MARCH 1995 NEW HOUSING SALES AT ANNUAL RATE OF 577,000 Sales of new one-family houses in March 1995 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 577,000, according to estimates reported today by the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of the Census. This is 3 (+/-11) percent above the revised February rate of 560,000 and 20 (+/-8) percent below the March 1994 rate of 722,000. The median sales price of new houses sold in March was $130,000; the mean sales price was $158,500. At the end of March, the seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale was 349,000. This represents a supply of 7.3 months at the current sales rate. Data for April 1995 will be released on May 31, 1995 at 10:00 A.M. EDT. EXPLANATORY NOTES These statistics are estimated from sample surveys. They are subject to sampling variability and errors of response and nonreporting. Estimated average relative standard errors of the data are shown in the tables. Whenever a statement such as "an increase of 3 (+/-4) percent" appears in the text, this indicates the range (from -1 percent to +7 percent) in which the actual percent change is likely to have occured. All ranges given for percent changes are 90-percent confidence intervals. If the range contains zero, it is unclear whether there was an increase or decrease; that is, the change is not statistically significant. For any comparison cited without a confidence interval, the change is statistically significant. The January issue of CURRENT CONSTRUCTION REPORTS (C25) includes explanations of confidence intervals and sampling variability. Changes in seasonally adjusted statistics often show irregular movement. It takes 4 months to establish a trend. On the average, preliminary monthly sales estimates are revised +/- 5 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. Questions regarding these data may be directed to Joseph A. Gilvary, Construction Starts Branch, telephone (301) 457-4666. Source: Construction Reports, Series C25, New One-Family Houses Sold. C25 Reports are available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Annual subscription: $30.00. NEW ONE-FAMILY HOUSES SOLD: MARCH 1995 United North- Mid- Period States east west South West Seasonally adjusted annual rate 1994 - March 722 61 129 320 213 April 672 60 129 292 190 May 689 61 121 314 194 June 632 56 119 268 189 July 630 51 110 280 190 August 672 75 115 276 205 September 691 90 110 299 192 October 707 64 134 305 204 November 642 61 130 274 177 December(r) 627 50 121 299 157 1995 - January(r) 640 64 113 289 173 February(r) 560 64 103 269 124 MARCH(p) 577 55 115 234 172 AVG. RSE(%) 5 18 12 9 9 Not seasonally adjusted 1993 666 60 123 295 188 1994(r) 670 61 123 295 191 AVG. RSE(%) 2 6 7 3 4 1994 First 3 months 177 12 33 79 54 1995 First 3 months 150 13 27 68 42 AVG. RSE(%) 3 13 7 5 4 1994 - March 74 5 13 33 22 December(r) 40 4 7 20 10 1995 - January(r) 46 4 7 22 13 February(r) 46 4 8 22 11 MARCH(p) 58 5 12 23 18 AVG. RSE(%) 5 18 12 9 9 Number of houses in thousands. (p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. AVG. RSE(%): Annual - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the last two years. YTD - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the current period and the same period last year. Monthly - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the latest six month period(January-June or July-December). Source: Construction Reports, Series C25, New One-Family Houses Sold. C25 Reports are available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Annual subscription: $30.00. Questions regarding these data may be directed to Joseph A. Gilvary, Construction Starts Branch, telephone (301) 457-4666. NEW ONE-FAMILY HOUSES FOR SALE AT END OF PERIOD AND MONTHS SUPPLY AT CURRENT SALES RATE: MARCH 1995 Seasonally adjusted Not Seasonally adjusted Houses Months Houses for sale Months for supply supply Period sale (1) (1) United States United North- Mid- South West States east west 1993 (X) (X) 295 53 48 121 73 (X) 1994(r) (X) (X) 340 55 63 140 82 (X) AVG. RSE(%) (X) (X) 3 10 6 4 6 (X) 1994 - March 299 4.9 296 50 48 123 74 4.0 April 298 5.3 296 50 49 122 74 4.5 May 302 5.3 301 51 51 123 76 4.6 June 313 6.0 316 52 55 129 79 5.7 July 317 6.2 318 54 55 129 80 6.0 August 322 6.0 323 54 57 134 79 5.5 September 328 5.9 332 53 61 139 80 6.1 October 330 5.7 331 52 62 137 80 5.9 November 335 6.5 335 53 62 139 81 7.5 December(r) 338 6.6 340 55 63 140 82 8.5 1995 - January(r) 342 6.7 340 55 62 142 81 7.3 February(r) 347 7.5 341 54 63 142 82 7.4 MARCH(p) 349 7.3 344 54 63 148 80 6.0 AVG. RSE(%) 3 6 3 12 6 5 6 6 Number of houses in thousands. (p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. (X) Not applicable. (1) Ratio of houses for sale to houses sold. Seasonally adjusted ratio derived from unadjusted ratio. AVG. RSE(%): Annual - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the last two years. Monthly - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the latest six month period(January-June or July-December). Source: Construction Reports, Series C25, New One-Family Houses Sold. C25 Reports are available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Annual subscription: $30.00. Questions regarding these data may be directed to Joseph A. Gilvary, Construction Starts Branch, telephone (301) 457-4666. MEDIAN AND AVERAGE SALES PRICE: MARCH 1995 Period Median Average 1993 126,500 147,700 1994(r) 130,000 154,500 AVG. RSE(%) 2 2 1994 - March 132,300 152,800 December(r) 135,000 159,600 1995 - January(r) 127,500 147,000 February(r) 133,900 159,000 MARCH(p) 130,000 158,500 AVG. RSE(%) 5 3 Dollars. Includes value of improved lot. (NA) Not available. (p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. AVG. RSE(%): Annual - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the last two years. Monthly - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the latest six month period(January-June or July-December). Source: Construction Reports, Series C25, New One-Family Houses Sold. C25 Reports are available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Annual subscription: $30.00. Questions regarding these data may be directed to Joseph A. Gilvary, Construction Starts Branch, telephone (301) 457-4666.