NEW RESIDENTIAL SALES IN APRIL 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009 AT 10:00 A.M. EDT CB09-79 Erica Filipek or Stephen Cooper Manufacturing and Construction Division (301) 763-5160 NEW RESIDENTIAL SALES IN APRIL 2009 Sales of new one-family houses in April 2009 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 352,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 0.3 percent (±14.5%)* above the revised March rate of 351,000, but is 34.0 percent (±11.0%) below the April 2008 estimate of 533,000. The median sales price of new houses sold in April 2009 was $209,700; the average sales price was $254,000. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of April was 297,000. This represents a supply of 10.1 months at the current sales rate. New Residential Sales data for May 2009 will be released on Wednesday, June 24 2009, at 10:00 A.M. EDT. http://www.census.gov/newhomesales Our Internet site is: http://www.census.gov/newhomesales EXPLANATORY NOTES These statistics are estimated from sample surveys. They are subject to sampling variability as well as nonsampling error including bias and variance from response, nonreporting, and undercoverage. Estimated average relative standard errors of the preliminary data are shown in the tables. Whenever a statement such as “2.5 percent (±3.2%) above” appears in the text, this indicates the range (-0.7 to +5.7 percent) in which the actual percent change is likely to have occurred. All ranges given for percent changes are 90-percent confidence intervals and account only for sampling variability. If a range does not contain zero, the change is statistically significant. If it does contain zero, the change is not statistically significant; that is, it is uncertain whether there was an increase or decrease. The same policies apply to the confidence intervals for percent changes shown in the tables. Changes in seasonally adjusted statistics often show irregular movement. It takes 4 months to establish a trend for new houses sold. Preliminary new home sales figures are subject to revision due to the survey methodology and definitions used. The survey is primarily based on a sample of houses selected from building permits. Since a “sale” is defined as a deposit taken or sales agreement signed, this can occur prior to a permit being issued. An estimate of these prior sales is included in the sales figure. On average, the preliminary seasonally adjusted estimate of total sales is revised about 4 percent. Changes in sales price data reflect changes in the distribution of houses by region, size, etc., as well as changes in the prices of houses with identical characteristics. Explanations of confidence intervals and sampling variability can be found on our web site listed above. Seasonally adjusted estimates for January 2007 through March 2009 have been revised. * 90% confidence interval includes zero. The Census Bureau does not have sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that the actual change is different from zero. Table 1. New Houses Sold and For Sale [Thousands of houses. Detail may not add to total because of rounding] Sold during period 1 Period United States Northeast Midwest South West United States For sale at end of period Northeast Midwest Months' South West supply2 Median sales price ($) Average sales price ($) Seasonally adjusted 2007:r January February March April May June 891 828 833 887 842 793 60 50 88 85 83 65 165 128 130 121 139 113 496 445 413 475 420 440 170 205 202 206 200 175 538 544 545 548 545 542 7.2 7.9 7.9 7.4 7.8 8.2 July August September October November December 2008:r January February March April May June 778 699 686 727 641 619 48 59 63 62 52 54 105 118 102 127 90 76 415 362 350 386 349 354 210 160 171 152 150 135 537 533 527 514 503 497 8.3 9.2 9.2 8.5 9.4 9.6 608 576 509 533 509 488 51 39 30 40 31 35 78 78 71 83 75 69 331 316 287 284 287 270 148 143 121 126 116 114 486 477 471 460 453 436 9.6 9.9 11.1 10.4 10.7 10.7 July August September October November December 2009: January March r r r 500 444 436 409 390 374 41 28 25 35 38 30 64 72 63 63 55 59 272 252 246 225 210 193 123 92 102 86 87 92 419 412 395 380 370 350 10.1 11.1 10.9 11.1 11.4 11.2 329 362 351 30 27 19 53 50 45 181 212 208 65 73 79 340 327 310 12.4 10.8 10.6 February Aprilp Average RSE (%)3 352 8 19 32 45 20 212 12 76 17 297 4 10.1 8 Percent Change: April 2009 from March 2009 90% Confidence Interval 4 0.3% ± 14.5 -34.0% ± 11.0 0.0% ± 77.8 -52.5% ± 29.2 0.0% ± 37.1 -45.8% ± 17.5 1.9% ± 20.0 -25.4% ± 18.9 -3.8% ± 32.7 -39.7% ± 24.1 -4.2% ± 1.0 -35.4% ± 2.1 -4.7% ± 15.0 -2.9% ± 16.4 April 2009 from April 2008 90% Confidence Interval 4 See footnotes at end of table. Table 1. New Houses Sold and For Sale - Continued [Thousands of houses. Detail may not add to total because of rounding] Sold during period Period United States Northeast Midwest South West United States For sale at end of period Northeast Midwest Months' South West supply2 Median sales price ($) Average sales price ($) Not seasonally adjusted 2007: 2008: RSE (%) 2008: Year to Date 2009: Year to Date RSE (%) 5 776 485 3 190 120 4 65 35 9 13 8 17 118 70 11 26 16 15 411 266 4 104 69 6 181 114 4 48 27 11 496 352 3 (X) (X) (X) 48 37 12 (X) (X) (X) 79 57 8 (X) (X) (X) 248 175 5 (X) (X) (X) 121 83 7 (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) 247,900 232,100 3 (X) (X) (X) 313,600 292,600 3 (X) (X) (X) Year to Date Percent Change 90% Confidence Interval 2007: January February March April May June 4 -37.1% ± 4.3 66 68 80 83 79 73 -40.8% ± 14.7 4 4 7 9 8 6 -38.1% ± 10.1 11 10 12 11 14 11 -32.9% ± 7.2 38 36 40 43 39 41 -44.5% ± 10.3 13 18 21 20 19 15 (X) (X) 539 540 542 542 544 543 (X) (X) 55 54 52 52 52 51 (X) (X) 94 90 87 87 85 85 (X) (X) 267 272 276 274 276 273 (X) (X) 123 124 127 129 131 134 (X) (X) 8.2 8.0 6.8 6.5 6.9 7.5 (X) (X) 254,400 250,800 262,600 242,500 245,000 235,500 (X) (X) 314,600 321,500 329,400 311,700 309,700 306,500 July August September October November December 68 60 53 57 45 44 4 5 5 5 4 4 9 11 8 10 6 5 36 31 27 30 25 26 18 13 14 12 10 8 538 538 527 518 508 496 52 52 50 49 48 48 83 82 80 79 79 79 271 272 270 264 257 248 131 132 127 127 124 121 8.0 8.9 9.9 9.0 11.2 11.4 246,200 236,500 240,300 234,300 249,100 227,700 307,100 301,300 292,200 310,100 316,800 284,400 2008: January February March April May June 44 48 49 49 49 45 3 3 2 4 3 3 5 6 7 8 7 7 24 26 28 25 27 25 11 12 12 12 11 10 488 475 465 458 451 435 46 45 46 44 44 43 78 76 74 73 72 69 246 241 233 230 227 218 117 113 113 110 107 104 11.1 9.9 9.5 9.3 9.3 9.6 232,400 245,300 229,300 246,400 229,300 234,300 284,600 301,200 287,600 314,300 298,200 299,400 July August September October November December 2009: January March r r r 43 38 35 32 27 26 3 2 2 3 3 2 6 7 5 5 4 4 24 21 20 17 15 14 11 8 8 7 6 6 421 411 398 384 369 352 42 42 41 39 38 37 69 67 65 62 61 57 210 205 198 192 183 175 100 98 94 91 87 83 9.8 10.8 11.4 12.0 13.6 13.6 237,300 221,000 225,200 213,200 221,600 229,600 301,900 265,500 287,100 274,000 290,100 263,100 24 29 33 2 2 2 3 4 4 14 17 19 5 6 8 340 324 308 36 35 35 55 52 51 169 161 153 79 75 70 14.3 11.0 9.2 208,600 208,500 202,200 245,200 258,600 257,100 February April p 33 8 2 32 4 20 19 12 7 17 296 4 34 14 49 11 147 4 67 8 9.0 8 209,700 5 254,000 5 Average RSE (%)3 p Preliminary. Annual rates. r Revised. 2 RSE Relative standard error. X Not applicable. 3 1 4 Ratio of houses for sale to houses sold. Average RSE for the latest 6-month period. 5 See the Explanatory Notes in the accompanying text for an explanation of 90% confidence intervals. Computed using unrounded data. Note: The sales price includes the land. Table 2. New Houses Sold, by Sales Price [Thousands of houses. Components may not add to total because of rounding. Percents computed from unrounded figures] Under Total $150,000 $150,000 to $199,999 $200,000 to $299,999 $300,000 to $399,999 $400,000 to $499,999 $500,000 to $749,999 $750,000 and over Period Number of houses1 2007: 2008: RSE (%) 2007: January February March April May June July August September October November December 2008: January February March April May June July August September October November December 2009: January March r r r 776 485 485 66 68 80 83 79 73 68 60 53 57 45 44 44 48 49 49 49 45 43 38 35 32 27 26 24 29 33 106 77 77 9 9 8 14 10 10 10 9 8 9 7 6 8 7 7 5 9 8 8 7 7 6 5 4 5 6 7 162 106 106 15 12 16 18 17 18 13 14 10 14 9 9 9 9 11 10 11 9 9 9 8 8 6 6 7 7 9 227 149 149 18 21 24 22 24 20 22 18 18 13 13 14 15 16 17 15 15 14 12 12 10 10 8 9 7 9 10 121 69 69 11 11 14 12 13 10 10 8 7 9 7 6 5 8 7 9 5 7 6 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 4 65 35 35 6 5 7 7 6 5 4 5 4 5 4 4 4 3 2 3 4 2 4 3 2 2 1 2 1 2 2 62 31 31 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 4 5 4 2 2 3 3 5 3 2 3 1 3 1 2 1 1 2 2 32 18 18 3 3 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 (Z) (Z) 1 1 February Aprilp Average RSE (%)2 33 8 7 21 8 17 10 14 4 22 1 28 1 33 1 50 Table 2. New Houses Sold, by Sales Price - Continued [Thousands of houses. Components may not add to total because of rounding. Percents computed from unrounded figures] Under Total $150,000 $150,000 to $199,999 $200,000 to $299,999 $300,000 to $399,999 $400,000 to $499,999 $500,000 to $749,999 $750,000 and over Period Percent distribution 2007: 2008: 2007: January February March April May June July August September October November December 2008: January February March April May June July August September October November December 2009: January March r r r 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 14 16 14 14 11 16 12 14 15 15 15 16 14 15 18 14 14 11 18 17 18 17 19 18 19 15 19 20 20 21 22 22 18 20 22 21 25 19 23 19 25 21 21 20 19 23 21 22 20 20 23 24 24 22 25 28 25 28 29 31 27 32 30 26 30 28 32 29 34 23 28 33 33 33 34 31 31 32 27 31 29 32 28 33 31 29 29 16 14 16 16 17 15 17 14 15 13 14 16 16 14 11 16 15 18 11 16 14 14 10 12 14 15 12 11 11 8 7 9 7 9 9 8 7 6 9 8 8 9 9 9 7 5 6 7 5 10 9 6 7 5 7 6 7 5 8 6 7 9 8 7 7 8 9 7 7 8 8 6 5 7 6 9 6 5 7 4 8 4 8 4 3 5 5 4 4 4 4 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 2 3 4 3 4 5 5 5 2 4 4 4 1 1 2 2 February Aprilp 100 22 24 32 12 4 4 2 p Preliminary. r Revised. RSE Relative standard error. X Not applicable. 1 2 Houses for which sales price was not reported have been distributed proportionally to those for which sales price was reported. Average RSE for the latest 6-month period. Note: The sales price includes the land. Table 3. New Houses Sold and For Sale by Stage of Construction and Median Number of Months on Sales Market [Thousands of houses. Detail may not add to total because of rounding] Sold during period Period Total Not started Under construction For sale at end of period Not started Under construction Median months Completed for sale1 Completed Total 2007: 2008: RSE (%) 2007: January February March April May June July August September October November December 2008: January February March April May June July August September October November December 2009: January March r r r 776 485 3 66 68 80 83 79 73 68 60 53 57 45 44 44 48 49 49 49 45 43 38 35 32 27 26 24 29 33 196 104 7 21 20 23 22 20 18 15 14 11 12 9 10 10 11 12 13 11 10 9 8 5 5 4 4 6 6 8 255 134 5 21 24 27 30 27 26 23 20 17 18 12 11 12 11 12 14 16 13 13 11 10 9 7 6 5 7 8 325 247 6 24 24 30 31 32 29 30 27 26 27 25 22 22 25 25 22 22 22 21 19 19 18 16 16 13 16 18 496 352 3 539 540 542 542 544 543 538 538 527 518 508 496 488 475 465 458 451 435 421 411 398 384 369 352 340 324 308 69 41 5 82 83 85 81 84 80 77 80 76 73 73 69 69 68 66 64 63 59 56 54 50 46 43 41 40 39 39 228 139 4 281 277 276 281 278 281 280 270 261 253 241 228 220 214 212 213 209 201 192 186 175 166 155 139 133 127 119 198 172 6 177 180 181 181 182 181 181 187 191 192 194 198 199 194 187 181 180 175 173 171 173 172 171 172 167 159 150 6.2 9.2 8 4.8 5.2 5.5 5.8 5.6 5.8 6.0 5.7 5.8 5.9 6.0 6.2 6.7 7.1 7.4 7.7 8.3 8.4 8.5 9.0 9.1 9.1 9.2 9.2 9.4 9.9 10.2 February Aprilp Average RSE (%)2 33 8 9 9 8 12 16 10 296 4 42 8 114 5 140 5 10.9 6 p Preliminary. r Revised. RSE Relative standard error. 1 2 Median number of months for sale since completion. Average RSE for the latest 6-month period.