U.S. new home sales rise in line with expectations in February

New home sales in the U.S. rose in line with consensus expectations in February. New home sales came in 618k, as compared with expectations of 620k. It was little changed from January’s upwardly revised print of 622k. New home sales for December and November were also upwardly revised, and the total revisions from November 2017 to January 2018 came in at 54k. This suggests a much stronger momentum in new home sales heading into the first quarter than the earlier estimates suggested, noted Barclays in a research report.

Region wise, the picture came in mixed. Sales in the Northeast and South rose, while there were falls recorded in the Midwest and West regions. The inventory of new homes rebounded a bit, taking the months’ supply higher to 5.9. In the meantime, the average price of a new home held widely stable compared to January, and the annual rate of home price appreciation decelerated to 1.7 percent.

The level of new home sales in February was consistent with expectations, and coupled with revisions to the earlier month, implies better momentum, stated Barclays in a research report. But, the deceleration in the year-on-year rate of average home prices was larger than expected, and taken together, this morning’s data imply slightly lower brokers’ commission in the first quarter.

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