NEW HOUSES SOLD IN OCTOBER 1996 Sales of new one-family houses in October 1996 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 714,000, 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 9 (+/-11) percent below the revised September rate of 782,000, but 6 (+/-11) percent above the October 1995 rate of 673,000. The median sales price of new houses sold in October was $140,000; the mean sales price was $165,300. At the end of October the seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale was 336,000. This represents a supply of 5.6 months at the current sales rate. Through October 1996 there were 654,000 houses sold compared with 576,000 houses sold during the same period last year. This is an increase of 14 (+/-3) percent. Data for November 1996 will be released on December 31, 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: OCTOBER 1996 United North- Mid- Period States east west South West Seasonally adjusted annual rate 1995 - 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 734 56 139 342 197 June 733 73 134 324 201 July(r) 780 81 139 345 215 August(r) 819 82 164 364 209 September(r) 782 99 124 344 214 OCTOBER(p) 714 67 110 342 195 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 10 months 576 48 110 256 163 1996 First 10 months 654 59 118 293 184 AVG. RSE(%) 2 6 5 3 3 1995 - October 54 5 10 25 15 1996 - July(r) 66 7 12 29 18 August(r) 73 7 14 33 19 September(r) 63 9 9 27 17 OCTOBER(p) 57 6 9 27 15 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: OCTOBER 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 - 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 362 5.9 360 61 67 158 74 5.2 June 356 6.0 355 59 66 156 74 5.5 July(r) 353 5.6 351 56 65 155 75 5.3 August(r) 346 5.2 346 56 64 153 74 4.7 September(r) 333 5.3 335 51 65 146 73 5.4 OCTOBER(p) 336 5.6 339 52 68 145 75 5.9 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: OCTOBER 1996 Period Median Average 1994 130,000 154,500 1995 133,900 158,700 AVG. RSE(%) 2 2 1995 - October 135,200 156,200 1996 - July(r) 144,200 168,400 August(r) 136,900 157,700 September(r) 138,100 168,400 OCTOBER(p) 140,000 165,300 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) 457-4666/4703.