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Mar 23, 2021
, Bloomberg News
U.S. sales of new homes declined in February to a nine-month low as severe winter weather in parts of the country limited foot traffic against a backdrop of elevated prices that may be restraining momentum.
Purchases of new single-family homes decreased 18.2 per cent -- the sharpest decline since July 2013 -- to a 775,000 annualized pace from an upwardly revised 948,000 rate in the prior month, government data showed Tuesday. The median forecast called for an 870,000 pace. Sales dropped in all regions across the U.S.
In February, inclement weather impeded the search for homes as temperatures dropped below freezing in some parts of the country and power disruptions hit states including Texas. Housing demand is also being restrained by a limited number of available properties that offer interested buyers fewer choices at the same time prices remain elevated.
The report showed the number of properties sold for which construction hadn’t yet started fell to 211,000, the lowest since October 2018. The winter storms probably slowed construction.
Still, the pace of new home sales remains 8.2 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis above the same month last year, pointing to the housing market’s strength through the pandemic.
In the coming months, higher borrowing costs could put more pressure on affordability and keep some buyers out of the market. Mortgage rates have been slowly rising since mid-February as the U.S .economic outlook improves. The median sales price rose 5.3 per cent from a year earlier to US$349,400, according to Tuesday’s report.
Assuming the 30-year mortgage rate remains below 4 per cent, however, damage to affordability won’t halt momentum this year, according to an analysis from Bloomberg Economics.
At the current sales pace, it would take 4.8 months to exhaust the supply of new homes, compared with 3.8 months in January.
A separate report Monday showed that sales of previously-owned homes dropped by more than expected, reflecting a record annual decline in the number of available properties that’s driving up prices and impeding buyers.
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