Do the rising interest rates started to take a toll on new home buyers? Maybe! At least new home sales missed most analyst’s expectations.
Here are the hard numbers: the new home sales decreased 5.3% month-over-month in June to a seasonally adjusted rate of 631,000. The number itself does not tell you much, of course. Moreover, it is significantly below most the estimates (O.K. – what a big deal? Most analysts are wrong most of the time anyway). But what is important is that the June decline is the largest monthly drop since December – and the prices declined as well.
The median sales price decreased by 4.2% year-over-year to $302,000 (Bay Area residents – do not laugh – these new buyers were not buying garages – but real houses). The average price decreased by 2.0% to $363,300.