January Homesales Come In With a 15% Increase

New home sales in January jumped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 437,000, a 15.6 percent increase over the December number of 378,000 and a 28.9 percent increase compared to January 2012 when sales were at a rate of 339,000. 

According to the new home sales report issued this morning by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, sales rose on both a monthly and an annual basis in all four regions. The monthly and yearly increases were 27.6 percent and 54.2 percent in the Northeast; 11.1 percent and 13.6 percent in the Midwest; 3.2 percent and 16.6 percent in the South and 45.3 percent and 60.3 percent in the West. WOW!

The median sales price of new houses sold in January was $226,400 compared to $221.700 a year earlier. The average price was $286,300, up from $265,700 in January 2012.
At the end of the reporting period there were 150,000 new homes for sale. This represents a supply of 4.1 months at the current rate of sales. In January 2012 there were 149,000 new homes on the market, a 5.3 month supply. 
John Tashjian, Principal, Centurion Real Estate Partners in NYC said of the report, "January's new home sales data is continued evidence that market is on a positive trajectory. While we believe that we are still in the second inning of a nine inning game, increased new home sales are a strong indicator of increasing consumer confidence in the overall US housing market. As interest rates remain at all-time low levels and access to capital becomes more readily available to the homebuyer, we will expect to see new home sales continue to increase.