Best Financial Markets Analysis Article Sales of existing single-family homes increased 11.1% to an annual rate of 300,000 units in March after an upwardly revised reading for February (270,000 vs. 250,000 in earlier report). The largest gain in sales of single-family homes was registered in the Northeast (+66.7%) followed by the West (+25.9%) and Midwest (+12.9%) and a virtually unchanged level in the South.

The important take away from Chart 1 is that the level of homes sales is barely higher than the record low of 270,000 units registered in February 2011.

The median price of a new single-family home rose 3.0% during March from the prior month to $213,800. On a year-to-year basis, the median price of a new single-family home declined 4.9% in March.

The inventory of unsold new single-family homes fell to 7.3-month supply in March from 8.2 months in February. The long-term average for inventories of unsold homes is 6.2 months. The latest monthly reduction in the number of homes available for sales is noteworthy.

Combined sales of new and existing homes rose 4.4% to an annual rate of 4.75 million units in March (see Chart 4). Sustained strong growth in employment and output is necessary to pull the housing sector out of a slump.

Asha Bangalore — Senior Vice President and Economist

http://www.northerntrust.com
Asha Bangalore is Vice President and Economist at The Northern Trust Company, Chicago. Prior to joining the bank in 1994, she was Consultant to savings and loan institutions and commercial banks at Financial & Economic Strategies Corporation, Chicago.

The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of The Northern Trust Company. The Northern Trust Company does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of information contained herein, such information is subject to change and is not intended to influence your investment decisions.

Only logged in users are allowed to post comments. Register/ Log in

The Market Oracle is a FREE Financial Markets Forecasting & Analysis web-site.
(c) 2005-2024 MarketOracle.co.uk (Market Oracle Ltd) - Market Oracle Ltd asserts copyright on all articles authored by our editorial team and all comments posted. Any and all information provided within the web-site, is for general information purposes only and Market Oracle Ltd do not warrant the accuracy, timeliness or suitability of any information provided on this site. nor is or shall be deemed to constitute, financial or any other advice or recommendation by us. and are also not meant to be investment advice or solicitation or recommendation to establish market positions. We do not give investment advice and our comments are an expression of opinion only and should not be construed in any manner whatsoever as recommendations to enter into a market position either stock, option, futures contract, bonds, commodity or any other financial instrument at any time. We recommend that independent professional advice is obtained before you make any investment or trading decisions. By using this site you agree to this sites Terms of Use. From time to time we promote or endorse certain products / services that we believe are worthy of your time and attention. In return for that endorsement and only in the cases where you purchase directly though us may we be compensated by the producers of those products.