Best Year for New Home Sales Since Great Recession Ends With 10% Gain

New home sales finished with a 10 percent gain at the end of December, reaching a total of 681,000 for the year. Though the month began flat after a few months of downward revisions, the bump secured 2019’s position as the best year for new home sales since the Great Recession. This puts 2020 on track to continue the end of last year’s upward trend as long as interest rates remain low and the economy holds steady. It is true that the housing industry still is experiencing growing pains: Just 78,000 completed, move-in-ready new homes are available, and prices continue to rise. But for those who weathered the turbulent 2010s, having a steady year of new home sales feels like a breath of fresh air as the industry ramps up to tackle the inventory shortage. 

New home sales were effectively flat in December, after downward revisions for prior months. However, the sales pace for newly-built single-family homes ended 2019 with a gain of 10%, increasing to a total of 681,000. This marks 2019 as the best year for new home sales since the Great Recession.

Contracts for new, single-family home sales declined slightly in December by 0.4% to a 694,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate according to estimates from the joint release of HUD and the Census Bureau.

The acceleration of new home sales during the second half of 2019 returns the new home sales pace to the general trend line it has been on since the end of the Great Recession. This general rising trend for new home sales, after the housing affordability crunch of 2018, suggests additional construction gains in 2020. Sales are being supported by ongoing low interest rates and historically low unemployment.

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