Census and HUD report new home sales rose in August, beating forecasts
The agencies put the seasonally adjusted annual rate at 684,000 units, above the 615,000 rate economists had forecast, according to the Census Bureau and HUD.
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The agencies' most recent prior readings showed July sales at a rate of 607,000, down 10.5% from a revised June pace of 678,000. An earlier Census Bureau and HUD estimate had put June sales at 628,000, up 1.6% from May's 618,000, before that figure was revised higher. HUD has said preliminary new-home sales estimates are typically revised by about 5% from their initial readings.
The series has not surprised only to the upside. Trading Economics said July's decline came in worse than the drop economists had expected that month, a reminder that the monthly figures have moved in both directions this year. Elsewhere in housing, the National Association of Realtors reported that existing-home sales, a separate and larger measure of the market, fell 2.0% in August.
The August beat comes as mortgage rates have been easing, giving buyers more room to act on the fixed pool of homes for sale. For anyone with money tied to housing or homebuilder shares, the question is whether that easing, not just a single month's data, is enough to hold the improvement given how sharply the readings have swung from one month to the next.