New Home Sales Rose in November

In November 2024, the U.S. housing market experienced a significant boost, with sales of new single-family homes reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 664,000, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. This marks a 5.9% increase from October’s revised figures and an 8.7% rise compared to November 2023. November new home sales are up 2.4% on a year-to-date basis.

A new home sale occurs when a sales contract is signed, or a deposit is accepted. The home can be in any stage of construction: not yet started, under construction or completed. In addition to adjusting for seasonal effects, the November reading of 664,000 units is the number of homes that would sell if this pace continued for the next 12 months.

New single-family home inventory in November remained elevated at a level of 490,000, up 8.9% compared to a year earlier. This represents an 8.9 months’ supply at the current building pace. A measure near a six months’ supply is considered balanced.

While an 8.9 months’ supply may be considered elevated in normal market conditions, there is currently only a 3.8 months’ supply of existing single-family homes on the market. Combined, new and existing total months’ supply remains below historic norms at approximately 4.5 months, although this measure is expected to increase as more home sellers test the market in the months ahead.

A year ago, there were 79,000 completed, ready-to-occupy homes available for sale (not seasonally adjusted). By the end of November 2024, that number increased 57% to 124,000. However, completed, ready-to-occupy inventory remains just 25% of total inventory, while homes under construction account for 54% of the inventory. The remaining 21% of new homes sold in November were homes that had not started construction when the sales contract was signed.

The median new home sale price in November edged down 5.4% to $402,600 and is down 6.3% from a year ago. In terms of affordability, the share of entry-level homes priced below $300,000 has been steadily falling in recent years. Only 25% of the homes were priced in this entry-level affordable range, while 31% of the homes were priced above $500,000. Most of the homes were priced between $300,000-$500,000.

Regionally, on a year-over-year basis, new home sales are up 13.6% in the South and 10.0% in the Midwest. New home sales are down 1.4% in the West and 11.5% in the Northeast.