New Home Sales Up; Prices Down

Housing inventory is being cleared.

Sales of new one-family houses in July 2009 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000, according to the Commerce Department.

This is 9.6% above the revised June rate of 395,000, but is 13.4%, below the July 2008 estimate of 500,000.

Both the median sales price and the average sales price were down in July. The median price fell to $210,100, from $210,400. Two months earlier it was $221,000. The average price dropped to $269,200. In June it was $276,900.

The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of July was 271,000. This represents a supply of 7.5 months at the current sales rate. The supply rate peaked in January 2009 at 12.5 months.

The climb in sales was strongest in the NorthEast up 32% (Washington DC perhaps?). Sales were down 7.6% in the Midwest and up 1% in the West.