The Census Bureau's New Home Sales Report shows a surge in sales for July with a huge positive revision to June.

New Home Sales Key Points

New Home Sales Sales of new single-family houses in July 2024 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 739,000.

This is 10.6 percent (±16.5 percent) above the revised June rate of 668,000 and is 5.6 percent (±21.3 percent) above the July 2023 estimate of 700,000.

Note the astonishing margins of error in this report.

The revised June rate was 668,000 up from 617,000. From the previous report, sales are up ((739,000 – 617,000) / 617,000) * 100 = 19.8 percent.

I doubt that sticks, but assume it does. How much would that add to 2024 Q3 GDP? Ponder that, and I will discuss below.

Median and Average New Home Sales Price

If you are a homeowner and wish to thank someone for the above chart, including property taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc., please thank the Fed.

Sales Prices

The median sales price of new houses sold in July 2024 was $429,800.

The average sales price was $514,800.

New Homes For Sale By Stage of Construction

For Sale Inventory and Months' Supply

The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of July was 462,000.

This represents a supply of 7.5 months at the current sales rate.

Those numbers are from the Census Department. They are bogus.

The department counts homes that have not been started and may not be started for months or even years as homes for sale.

Of the allegedly 467,000 homes for sale, only 102,000 are complete. 100,000 have not even been started. 362,000 are started or completed.