More than one million new single-family homes were sold in the U.S. for the second consecutive year in 2004, reaching 1.183 million units, an 8.9 percent increase from the previous annual record of 1.086 million set in 2003, according to a recent report released by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce. The pace of new-home sales for December 2004 reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.098 million units, which was approximately 0.1 percent above November's pace of 1.097 million units and 2.0 percent below the rate from one year earlier. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of December was 432,000, representing a 4.8-month supply at the current sales pace.
Regionally, the Midwest had the largest sales increase, with sales jumping 55.5 percent from November 2004 to December 2004. New-home sales also rose in the West, increasing 6.3 percent in December. Sales declined in the South and Northeast regions, falling 16.3 percent and 15.7 percent, respectively.
Posted by gandlwoods at February 5, 2005 08:10 AM