Wall Street Journal writers Likhitha Butchireddygari and Harriet Torry reported today that, “The pace at which Americans bought new homes increased in August, a sign that low mortgage rates may be encouraging home building.
“Purchases of newly built single-family homes rose 7.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 713,000 in August from the prior month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected a sales pace of 660,000 in August.
“The number of new homes for sale in August would last 5.5 months at the current pace, which is down from 6.3 a year ago.”
The Journal update added that, “The median sales price of a new home in August was $328,000, up from last year, when the median sales price was $321,400. Cooling growth in home prices might be encouraging sales of new homes. According to S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, average national home prices grew 3.2% in July from the year prior, which is down from earlier in the year.”
