new home sales indicate demand for new home construction

A new report just released by the National Association of Realtors is showing a marked increase in single family homes, as well as both co-ops and condominiums, between June and July.

That report shows a 25 percent gain nationally over the sales levels of the same period of time last year. Even more, the average price of a home has now reached $309,000, the first time in history that that average has surpassed the $300,000 mark.

In a statement, Lawrence Yun, chief economist with NAR, declared that the nation’s housing market is “well past the recovery phase and is now booming with higher home sales compared to the pre-pandemic days.”

Continued Yun: “With the sizable shift in remote work, current homeowners are looking for larger homes, and this will lead to a secondary level of demand, even into 2021.”

Analysts say the increased demand for new homes is now on the verge of taxing what is regarded as a healthy supply of around six to seven months. “At July’s pace, it would take 3.1 months to exhaust the current inventory, down from 4.2 months a year ago,” says the New York Post.

Notes the financial website MarketWatch: “To a large extent, the bumper demand for housing is an indication that Americans are aiming to make up for lost time. Many economists believe that what we’re seeing now is essentially a postponed spring home-buying season.”

Only naturally, the new home sales boom is expected to spur additional new home building, asserts Fan-Yu Kuo with the National Association of Home Builders: “Though sales have picked up, rising home prices driven by low inventory and elevated jobless claims could be a bottleneck for future home sales.”
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The NAHB economist adds: “More listings and home construction are needed to meet this rising demand.”

By Garry Boulard

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