U.S. new-home sales climb to more than 8-year high

Americans bought new homes in June at the fastest pace in more than eight years, a sign that a solid job market and low mortgage rates are bolstering the broader U.S. economy.

The Commerce Department said Tuesday that new-home sales rose 3.5% last month to a seasonally adjusted rate of 592,000, the best level since February 2008. Purchases of new homes have climbed 10.1% year-to-date, despite volatile sales on a monthly basis.

Low mortgage rates and a healthy job market have lifted the real estate market, which continues to recover from the depths of the housing bust that began nearly a decade ago. Greater demand and tight inventories have led to rising prices, such that the potential to return to the historic sales rate of 650,000 new homes could be limited. Builders say they’re struggling to find both workers and land for additional construction.

June’s median sales price rose 6.1% from a year ago to $306,700. Just 4.9 months’ supply of new homes is listed for sale, well below this historic average of six months. Sales surged in the West and Midwest by more than 10% in June, but declined in the Northeast and South.

The market for new houses is roughly just 1/10th of the size of the existing-home market, where sales also are rising even as the number of listings are shrinking on a yearly basis. The National Assn. of Realtors said last week that sales of existing homes rose 1.1% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million, the best performance since February 2007. But the number of listings has fallen 5.8% from a year ago to 2.12 million.

Builders remain relatively confident that they’ll continue to expand, although their optimism waned slightly in July.

The National Assn. of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index dropped one point to 59. Readings above 50 indicate more builders view sales conditions as good, rather than poor. The index had mostly held at 58 this year before rising to 60 in June.

Builders’ views of current sales and traffic by prospective buyers slipped one point this month. Their outlook for sales over the next six months slid three points.

Construction of single-family houses has increased, rising 4.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 778,000 in June.

Propelling much of this demand has been an improving job market coupled with cheaper borrowing costs.

Buyers also have benefited from interest rates staying close to record lows. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said the average for the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 3.45% last week, down sharply from 4.04% a year ago.

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