Staff Reports
In a surge of good news for the housing market, new home sales soared an impressive 8% from November to December, reaching a sparking seasonally adjusted annual rate of 664,000, as per a report from the Census Bureau. This delightful development signals that the paltry supply of pre-owned homes is funnelling buyers toward newly constructed units. Who wouldn’t want a shiny, pristine new home over a previously lived-in one, right? It’s like opting for a brand new car over a used one – no weird smells or mystery stains to deal with!
New home sales rose in December in bright spot for market https://t.co/0KcBKY24ei https://t.co/0KcBKY24ei
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 25, 2024
And the good news keeps rolling in, folks! December sales were a smashing 4.4% higher than those in December 2022. It’s like the housing market is doing the Cha-Cha slide right into better times! Plus, the median sales price for a new home in December was a delightful $413,200, the lowest it’s been since the latter half of 2021. That’s some serious savings, people! It’s like getting a designer bag for half the price – a steal! Sure, new home prices have been on a downward spiral since reaching a peak of nearly $497,000 in October 2022, but they’re still a hefty 33% higher than they were at the start of the pandemic. Who knew the housing market could have such drama?
Meanwhile, existing home sales took a nosedive. The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes in December plummeted to the lowest level in over a decade. Existing home sales slowed by 1% to hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.78 million, marking the lowest point since August 2010. It’s like the housing market is playing a game of limbo – how low can you go? This drop in existing home sales is likely due to those pesky high mortgage rates, which have been putting the squeeze on families’ home buying power. Mortgage rates even reached a whopping 8%, the highest they’ve been in 23 years – that’s even older than most millennials!
But wait, there’s more! Housing starts, or the number of new residential buildings that began construction, ticked up a modest 1.9% from November to December, according to a report from the Census Bureau. In case you missed it, that’s a move in the right direction, people! From December 2022, housing starts surged by a solid 6.1%. It’s like the housing market is gearing up for a comeback tour – bigger and better than ever!
