U..S. sales of new houses rose in September to the fastest pace since early 2022, suggesting there's still some appetite for homes despite soaring mortgage rates.
Purchases of new single-family homes increased 12.3% to a 759,000 annualized pace last month, government data showed Wednesday. The figure topped all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
The market for new homes has broadly held firm in the face of decades-high mortgage rates and elevated housing prices. Though these factors risk pushing more prospective buyers to the sidelines, the lack of listings in the resale market has so far underpinned demand for new construction.
The company's builder and mortgage banking segments both ended up in the black, as sales for new constructions outperform the existing-home market.
As mortgage rates have increased, homebuilder PulteGroup Inc. "responded with adjustments in product, pricing and incentive programs that successfully address consumers' biggest pain point — affordability," Chief Executive Officer Ryan Marshall said Tuesday on the company's earnings call.
The median sales price of a new home dropped to $418,800, according to the report from the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Despite the decline, that's still well above pre-pandemic levels.
Figures out earlier on Wednesday showed mortgage rates are near 8%. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the average contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage jumped to 7.9% last week, pushing down a measure of applications to finance a purchase down to the lowest level since 1995.
The data showed there were 435,000 homes for sale as of the end of last month, the highest since February. That represents 6.9 months of supply at the current sales rate, the fewest since early last year.
New-home sales are considered a timelier barometer than purchases of previously-owned homes, which are calculated when contracts close. Those sales fell in September to the lowest level since 2010 as the market deteriorated further.
