Southern States See New Home Sales Rise
Increase in sales contributed to the 6.7% increase in new home sales in May 2018 reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 689,000. In the south region, U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development report that sales rose the highest in the South at 17.9%.
While the sales rose in the South, they dropped in other parts of the country. In the Northeast new homes sale dropped by 10% the month 
of May 2018 and 8.7% in the West. Overall, sales nationwide are 8.8% ahead of the reports from this time last year.
New home sales and new home inventory are both recovering at a close and steady pace. Reports show that the sales of new homes are keeping up with the reported post-recession high of 712,000 in November 2017.
The three sub-indexes (single-family sales in the present, single-family sales over the next 6 months, and traffic of prospective buyers) are reported at or above 50 according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). This factor has contributed to the positive outlook builders’ now have on the residential construction industry.
New home sales can give credit to the job growth and expanding housing equity, as well as the millennials entering the home-buying market.
