New Home Sales Biggest Drop in 16 Years; Durables Orders Rose 3.1%
New
home sales jumped 4.8% in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of
1.12 million homes, according
to the U.S. Census Bureau. For the
full year 2006, new home sales plunged 17.3%, the biggest drop in 16
years, to 1.06 million, down from the record 1.28 million in 2005.
New home sales are down 11% compared to December 2005 estimate of 1.26 million.
December New Homes Sales Highlights:
-
The median sales price of new houses sold in December 2006 was $235,000, while the average sales price was $290,100.
-
The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of December was 537,000. This represents a supply of 5.9 months at the current sales rate.
-
Sales in the Northeast soared a seasonally adjusted 27.3% in December.
Durable Orders:
New orders for manufactured durable goods in December increased 3.1% to $221.9 billion, following a 2.2% jump in November, according to the U.S. Census Bureau announced today.
New orders for nondefense capital goods increased $6.7 billion or 9.0% in December to $80.7 billion. Defense new orders for capital goods decreased 17.5% to $9.4 billion.
Other December Highlights:
- Excluding transportation, new orders increased 2.3%.
- Excluding defense, new orders increased 3.9%.
- Shipments of manufactured durable goods rose 0.8% to $211.6 billion.
- Inventories of manufactured durable goods increased $1.3 billion or 0.4% to $296.0 billion.
Related Commentary on Today's Economic News and Indicators:
- US December new home sales up 4.8 pct to 1.120 mln units - Forbes
- US
December New-Home Sales Rise 4.8% to 1.12 Million Rate -
Bloomberg - US Economy: Home Sales, Durable Goods Orders Rise - Bloomberg
- New-home sales rise to highest since April - MarketWatch
- New-home sales strong in December, but post 17.3% drop for 2006 - USA Today
- ECONOMIC REPORT Durable orders up 3.1% on broad-based gains - MarketWatch
- US durable goods orders surprise with strength - Reuters
