Sales of newly built single‐family homes hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 740,000 in August 2021, up 1.5 percent from the revised July rate of 729,000, according to data released on Friday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The gains come after a turnaround month in July, when new home sales started to rebound after three consecutive months of declines.
New home sales were still 24.3 percent below the August 2020 revised estimate of 977,000, however.
“Robust demand continues to fuel strong sales, and interest rates have remained low, helping to counteract high sales pricing,” Kelly Mangold of RCLCO Real Estate Consulting, noted in a statement emailed to Inman.
“August has historically been a slower month for sales than July, and this increase is encouraging and may indicate that the positive momentum that began in July may continue through fall,” she added. “Builders still have a robust backlog to get through and the uptick this summer is a promising start to what may be a longer term trend as supply chain issues begin to resolve.”
The median sales price of new homes sold was $390,900, and the average sales price was $443,200.
Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted estimate of new homes for sale at the end of August was 378,000, a 6.1 months supply at the current pace of sales.
The news follows a report released on Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) showing that existing-home sales dropped by 2 percent in August from the month before.
Update: This story was updated on September 24, 2021 with commentary from RCLCO’s Kelly Mangold.
