U.S. January New Home Sales - Dip on weather, December revised higher
January new home sales at 657k are a little lower than expected though the surprise is offset by an upward revision to December to 734k from 698k, and January data probably saw some restraint for weather. The near-term outlook is probably negative given limited hopes for Fed easing, but fluid, with recent slippage in UST yields potentially positive.
January’s 10.5% decline more than fully reverses December’s 8.1% increase but trend is unclear. New home sales are sensitive to weather, which in January was exceptionally cold in much of the country.
While Los Angeles saw disastrous fires, the West was the only region to report an increase in January with the other three regions all falling sharply. January’s overall drop was less steep than a 14.2% fall in October, when two major hurricanes were seen.
Price data was mixed, the median unusually outperforming the average, rising by 7.5% on the month while the average rise by only 0.1%. The median rise 3.7% yr/yr while the average fell by 3.4%. December saw the median down by 0.8% yr/yr but the average up by 3.4%.
