Sales of newly-built homes slipped in July, falling 1 percent as compared to June. Home buyers closed on a seasonally-adjusted, annualized 298,000 units, the lowest reading since February. The supply of new homes, however, remained flat. July's 6.6 months of supply equaled June's tally and remains near the multi-year low of 6.5 months set in May of this year. The figures suggest a new home market that's finding its balance. Builders are building to meet demand, and not much more. The New Home Sales report may have read differently if not for the Northeast Region which doubled its sales units in July. The gains buoyed the broader data, re-affirming the importance of looking past national data and focusing on what's local; the national market is not reflective of any given town Broken down by region, July New Home Sales fared as follows:
- Northeast Region : +100.0% from June 2011
- Midwest Region : +2.4% from June 2011
- South Region : -7.4% from June 2011
- West Region : -5.9% from June 2011