OCTOBER 1995 NEW HOUSING SALES AT ANNUAL RATE OF 673,000 Sales of new one-family houses in October 1995 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 673,000, according to estimates reported today by the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of the Census. This is 3 (+/-10) percent below the revised September rate of 692,000 and 5 (+/-10) percent below the October 1994 rate of 707,000. The median sales price of new houses sold in October was $133,400; the mean sales price was $153,400. At the end of October, the seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale was 360,000. This represents a supply of 6.5 months at the current sales rate. Through October 1995 there were 576,000 houses sold compared with 585,000 houses sold during the same period last year. This is a decrease of 2 (+/-2) percent. Data for November 1995 will be released on January 3, 1996, at 10:00 A.M. EST. 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. NEW ONE-FAMILY HOUSES SOLD: OCTOBER 1995 United North- Mid- Period States east west South West Seasonally adjusted annual rate 1994 - October 707 64 134 305 204 November 642 61 130 274 177 December 627 50 121 299 157 1995 - January 643 65 116 286 176 February 575 66 108 274 127 March 612 56 121 269 165 April 607 55 124 257 172 May 667 52 122 288 205 June 723 75 135 296 217 July(r) 781 53 138 381 208 August(r) 699 51 132 308 208 September(r) 692 43 130 304 214 OCTOBER(p) 673 42 123 311 197 AVG. RSE(%) 5 18 11 8 9 Not seasonally adjusted 1993 666 60 123 295 188 1994 670 61 123 295 191 AVG. RSE(%) 2 6 7 3 4 1994 First 10 months 585 53 108 254 170 1995 First 10 months 576 47 109 256 164 AVG. RSE(%) 2 5 5 3 3 1994 - October 57 6 11 23 16 1995 - July(r) 64 5 11 31 17 August(r) 63 5 12 28 19 September(r) 55 4 10 24 18 OCTOBER(p) 54 4 10 25 15 AVG. RSE(%) 5 18 11 8 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). NEW ONE-FAMILY HOUSES FOR SALE AT END OF PERIOD AND MONTHS SUPPLY AT CURRENT SALES RATE: OCTOBER 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 (X) (X) 340 55 63 140 82 (X) AVG. RSE(%) (X) (X) 3 10 6 4 6 (X) 1994 - October 330 5.7 331 52 62 137 80 5.9 November 335 6.5 335 53 62 139 81 7.5 December 338 6.6 340 55 63 140 82 8.5 1995 - January 342 6.7 340 55 62 143 81 7.3 February 347 7.2 341 54 62 143 82 7.2 March 347 6.9 343 55 62 146 80 5.7 April 348 6.9 344 56 61 148 80 5.9 May 347 6.3 346 58 61 149 79 5.5 June 347 5.9 349 57 62 151 78 5.4 July(r) 344 5.5 343 58 63 145 77 5.3 August(r) 347 6.0 349 59 64 148 78 5.6 September(r) 350 6.3 355 60 65 152 77 6.4 OCTOBER(p) 360 6.5 363 62 67 155 78 6.8 AVG. RSE(%) 3 6 3 13 6 5 5 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). MEDIAN AND AVERAGE SALES PRICE: OCTOBER 1995 Period Median Average 1993 126,500 147,700 1994 130,000 154,500 AVG. RSE(%) 2 2 1994 - October 132,000 153,000 1995 - July(r) 131,000 154,200 August(r) 134,500 160,800 September(r) 129,100 157,100 OCTOBER(p) 133,400 153,400 AVG. RSE(%) 3 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, telephone (202) 512-1800. Annual subscription: $16.00. Questions regarding these data may be directed to Dale R. Jacobson, Construction Starts Branch, telephone (301) 457-4666.