NEW HOUSES SOLD IN AUGUST 1996 Sales of new one-family houses in August 1996 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 832,000, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of the Census and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 5 (+/-12) percent above the revised July rate of 795,000, and 18 (+/-14) percent from the August 1995 rate of 707,000. The median sales price of new houses sold in August was $135,000; the mean sales price was $157,800. At the end of August the seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale was 355,000. This represents a supply of 5.3 months at the current sales rate. Through August 1996 there were 537,000 houses sold compared with 467,000 houses sold during the same period last year. This is an increase of 15 (+/-4) percent. Data for September 1996 will be released on October 30, 1996 at 10:00 AM 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 December 1995/January 1996 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: AUGUST 1996 United North- Mid- Period States east west South West Seasonally adjusted annual rate 1995 - August 707 51 138 313 205 September 684 44 130 304 206 October 673 50 123 305 195 November 679 43 128 310 198 December 683 72 124 301 187 1996 - January 743 52 159 322 210 February 784 67 131 354 232 March 713 51 132 321 209 April 740 62 124 325 229 May(r) 734 56 139 342 197 June(r) 734 71 133 323 206 July(r) 795 72 152 346 225 AUGUST(p) 832 62 196 355 219 AVG. RSE(%) 5 20 11 7 8 Not seasonally adjusted 1994 670 61 123 295 191 1995 667 55 125 300 187 AVG. RSE(%) 2 6 7 3 4 1995 First 8 months 467 39 89 207 131 1996 First 8 months 537 42 103 237 154 AVG. RSE(%) 2 6 6 4 3 1995 - August 63 4 12 28 19 1996 - May(r) 69 5 14 32 19 June(r) 65 7 12 28 18 July(r) 67 7 12 29 19 AUGUST(p) 74 6 17 32 20 AVG. RSE(%) 5 20 11 7 8 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: AUGUST 1996 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 1994 (X) (X) 340 55 63 140 82 (X) 1995 (X) (X) 374 62 69 158 86 (X) AVG. RSE(%) (X) (X) 3 10 6 4 6 (X) 1995 - August 349 6.0 350 59 64 149 78 5.5 September 350 6.4 354 60 64 151 78 6.5 October 360 6.6 361 62 66 153 79 6.7 November 368 6.7 371 64 69 156 82 8.0 December 372 6.6 374 62 69 158 86 8.4 1996 - January 370 6.2 370 61 66 158 85 6.9 February 355 5.1 362 58 66 157 81 5.3 March 368 6.3 362 59 66 159 79 5.2 April 369 6.1 366 59 67 163 77 5.2 May(r) 374 6.1 374 62 70 165 77 5.4 June(r) 374 6.3 375 60 71 166 77 5.8 July(r) 379 5.9 377 60 71 168 79 5.6 AUGUST(p) 355 5.3 355 59 65 157 74 4.8 AVG. RSE(%) 4 6 4 15 8 6 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). MEDIAN AND AVERAGE SALES PRICE: AUGUST 1996 Period Median Average 1994 130,000 154,500 1995 133,900 158,700 AVG. RSE(%) 2 2 1995 - August 134,900 162,000 1996 - May(r) 136,400 163,300 June(r) 140,300 165,400 July(r) 143,000 167,200 AUGUST(p) 135,000 157,800 AVG. RSE(%) 3 4 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: $35.00. Questions regarding these data may be directed to Dale R. Jacobson, Construction Starts Branch, telephone (301) 457-4666.