New home sales south of the border moved lower last month, as the housing picture in the U.S. is showing signs of deteriorating.
Figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Commerce Department revealed that new-home sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 553,000 in September.
Sales of newly-constructed homes swooned to the lowest since December 2016. September’s selling pace of 553,000 was 5.5% lower than in August, and 13.2% lower than a year ago.
Sales missed an economist consensus forecast of a 620,000 pace, and revisions to prior months were all downward.
The median selling price in September was $320,000, 3.5% lower than a year ago. At the current pace of sales, it would take 7.1 months to exhaust available supply, a six-year high.
For years, the housing story has been about strong demand, and limited supply. That dynamic may be starting to shift, however, as unrelenting price gains, higher mortgage rates, and scant choices may be nudging would-be homebuyers out of the market.
Inventory in the market for previously-owned homes has been inching up and sales declining.
