NEW HOUSES SOLD IN DECEMBER 1996 Sales of new one-family houses in December 1996 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 783,000, 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 1 (+/-12) percent below the revised November rate of 791,000, but is 15 (+/-13) percent above the December 1995 rate of 683,000. The median sales price of new houses sold in December was $142,000; the mean sales price was $173,200. At the end of December the seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale was 327,000. This represents a supply of 5.2 months at the current sales rate. In 1996 there were 756,000 houses sold compared with 667,000 houses sold during 1995. This is an increase of 13 (+/-3) percent. New Home Sales data for January 1997 will be released on March 4, 1997, 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: DECEMBER 1996 United North- Mid- Period States east west South West Seasonally adjusted annual rate 1995 - 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 780 81 139 345 215 August 820 86 163 364 207 September(r) 779 96 130 343 210 October(r) 672 66 100 312 194 November(r) 791 90 120 359 222 DECEMBER(p) 783 87 176 335 185 AVG. RSE(%) 6 20 12 10 9 Not seasonally adjusted 1995 667 55 125 300 187 1996 756 75 137 336 208 AVG. RSE(%) 2 6 7 3 4 1995 - December 45 6 7 20 12 1996 - September(r) 62 9 10 27 17 October(r) 54 6 9 25 15 November(r) 55 7 8 25 15 DECEMBER(p) 51 7 10 22 11 AVG. RSE(%) 6 20 12 10 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: DECEMBER 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 1995 (X) (X) 374 62 69 158 86 (X) 1996 (X) (X) 330 40 68 147 75 (X) AVG. RSE(%) (X) (X) 4 15 8 5 5 (X) 1995 - 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 353 5.6 351 56 65 155 75 5.3 August 343 5.2 342 51 64 153 74 4.7 September(r) 330 5.3 332 45 65 148 73 5.3 October(r) 333 6.0 335 45 68 147 75 6.2 November(r) 330 5.1 333 43 70 147 73 6.0 DECEMBER(p) 327 5.2 330 40 68 147 75 6.5 AVG. RSE(%) 4 7 4 15 8 5 5 7 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: DECEMBER 1996 Period Median Average 1995 133,900 158,700 1996 140,000 165,800 AVG. RSE(%) 2 2 1995 - December 138,600 165,600 1996 - September(r) 139,000 167,400 October(r) 142,000 167,000 November(r) 146,500 174,200 DECEMBER(p) 142,000 173,200 AVG. RSE(%) 5 4 Dollars. Includes value of improved lot. (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, Residential Construction Branch, telephone (301) 457-4666/4703.