(Washington) New home sales in the United States fell again in January, but prices are up again after two months of decline, according to Commerce Department figures released Thursday.
Posted at 12:25 p.m.
During the first month of the year, 801,000 new single-family homes were sold on an annual basis, slightly less than the 805,000 expected.
This represents a decrease of 4.5% compared to the previous month, for which sales were revised and turn out to be higher than initially announced, at 839,000 instead of 811,000.
It is also 19.3% less than in January 2021, which marked the peak of sales, with 993,000 new homes sold, at the height of the real estate boom caused by the pandemic, thanks to interest rates. very low and the generalization of telework.
Last month, prices resumed their ascent: the median price of a new home was $423,300, compared to $395,500 in December (revised upwards).
As for the number of houses available for sale, at the end of January it remained almost identical to December, at 406,000, or just over six months at the current rate of sales.
Mortgage interest rates are rising slowly, after having been at historic lows during the crisis. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is approaching 4%, reaching peaks not seen since May 2019.
This should help slow home sales in the coming months.