NEW HOUSES SOLD IN FEBRUARY 1997 Sales of new one-family houses in February 1997 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 811,000, 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 (+/-9 percent) below the revised January rate of 817,000 but 4 (+/-10) percent above the February 1996 rate of 778,000. The median sales price of new houses sold in February was $143,200; the mean sales price was $174,500. At the end of February the seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale was 312,000. This represents a supply of 4.6 months at the current sales rate. Through February of this year, there were 127,000 houses sold compared with 122,000 houses sold during the same period last year. This is an increase of 4 (+/-7) percent. New Home Sales data for March 1997 will be released on April 28, 1997, at 10:00 AM 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 1997 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. The Bureau is in the process of changing its method of collecting data on new home sales with the introduction of computerized collection. By July of this year we will complete the transition from paper and pencil data collection to the use of laptop computers. We anticipate data collection will be more timely and efficient than in the past. During this transition we are continuing to closely monitor all operations. NEW ONE-FAMILY HOUSES SOLD: FEBRUARY 1997 United North- Mid- Period States east west South West Seasonally adjusted annual rate 1996 - February 778 65 132 352 229 March 711 51 131 322 206 April 741 61 124 330 226 May 732 57 138 341 196 June 732 75 133 323 202 July 782 82 139 345 217 August 814 84 160 365 205 September 768 93 129 341 205 October 706 69 113 329 195 November(r) 788 78 127 368 216 December(r) 789 76 156 351 205 1997 - January(r) 817 107 146 377 188 FEBRUARY(p) 811 95 141 364 210 AVG. RSE(%) 6 20 12 10 9 Not seasonally adjusted 1995 667 55 125 300 187 1996(r) 757 74 137 337 209 AVG. RSE(%) 2 6 7 3 4 1996 First 2 months 122 8 21 55 38 1997 First 2 months 127 13 21 60 34 AVG. RSE(%) 3 12 9 5 6 1996 - February 68 5 11 31 21 November(r) 54 6 9 25 14 December(r) 51 6 9 23 13 1997 - January(r) 60 7 10 30 14 FEBRUARY(p) 67 7 11 30 19 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: FEBRUARY 1997 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(r) (X) (X) 326 39 67 146 74 (X) AVG. RSE(%) (X) (X) 4 15 8 5 5 (X) 1996 - February 354 5.1 362 58 66 157 81 5.3 March 367 6.2 362 59 66 159 79 5.2 April 368 6.0 366 59 67 163 77 5.2 May 362 5.9 360 61 67 158 74 5.2 June 355 5.9 355 59 66 156 74 5.5 July 352 5.6 351 56 65 155 75 5.3 August 343 5.2 342 51 64 153 74 4.7 September 331 5.3 332 45 65 148 73 5.3 October 330 5.7 332 42 68 147 76 6.0 November(r) 327 5.1 330 41 69 147 73 6.1 December(r) 322 5.1 326 39 67 146 74 6.4 1997 - January(r) 316 4.8 316 36 66 141 73 5.2 FEBRUARY(p) 312 4.6 308 33 65 139 71 4.6 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: FEBRUARY 1997 Period Median Average 1995 133,900 158,700 1996(r) 140,000 166,200 AVG. RSE(%) 2 2 1996 - February 139,400 163,700 November(r) 143,500 172,000 December(r) 142,900 171,500 1997 - January(r) 143,800 170,200 FEBRUARY(p) 143,200 174,500 AVG. RSE(%) 5 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: $30.00. Questions regarding these data may be directed to Dale R. Jacobson, Residential Construction Branch, telephone (301) 457-4666.