WASHINGTON (AP) – More Americans bought new homes in September, a sign that demand remains strong despite a shortage of properties on the market.
Recent hiring gains couples with low interest rates have bolstered the market for new homes. But builders have largely struggled to keep pace with new construction, creating a shortage of listings for would-be buyers.
New-home sales advanced 3.1 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 593,000, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. The gains were concentrated in the Northeast, Midwest and South, as sales tumbled last month in the West.
So far this year, sales have increased 13 percent compared to the same period in 2015.
Sales have steadily grown from the depths of the housing bust and Great Recession over the past three years. Still, new-home sales still lag their historic pace of roughly 650,000 a year. If the sales pace for 2016 holds, sales will total roughly 566,000 at the end of this year.