“Sales of new single-family houses in March 2016 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 511,000,” according to a report from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, released today.
This was 1.5% (SAAR) below February 2016, but 5.4% (SAAR) higher than March 2015. The report notes that this was “unexpected” for the time of year, but was due mostly to a decline in the Western region. All other regions performed well.
Even though we’re in the West, the Boise region continues to be doing quite well in the new construction category.
In Ada County, March 2016 new home sales were up 26.0% (SAAR) over February 2016, and up 4.9% (SAAR) from March 2015. Pending sales were up a whopping 66.1% (non-SAAR) year-over-year, indicating that sales will continue to be strong in this sector for the next few months.
Along with strong sales, new home prices were were up 4.8% year-over-year, to $296,000 (non-SAAR) in March 2016. We saw a slight 1.3% (non-SAAR) month-over-month decrease, but that could be reflective of the balance between supply and demand.
Supply of inventory for new homes was at 4.7 months (non-SAAR) in March 2016, indicating a balanced market. (Less than 4 months typically means we’re in a seller’s market, more than 6 months typically means we’re in a buyer’s market, and between 4-6 months is considered a balanced market.)
In Canyon County, new home sales were up 29.2% (SAAR) over February 2016, and up 6.7% (SAAR) from March 2015. Pending sales were up 10.2% (non-SAAR) year-over-year, and also saw a huge jump last month, up 55.6% (non-SAAR) year-over-year.
New home prices were were up an impressive 13.0% year-over-year to $197,800 (non-SAAR). Canyon County’s new home prices tend to be cyclical, starting lower in the spring then increasing through the fall. To that end, we did see a month-over-month decrease of 8.4% (non-SAAR) compared to February 2016. And similar to Ada County, this decline was most likely due to supply.
The supply of new homes for sale in Canyon County was at 8.1 months (non-SAAR) in March 2016, down 21.4% from last year. This puts builders in a strong position to negotiate prices, but as indicated by strong sales, that has not deterred buyers.
Keep in mind that new home sales are a much smaller portion of the overall market, and as we’ve seen in other reports, existing home sales are performing very well year-over-year. Read our March 2016 report for more details on new construction and other sectors of the real estate market in the Boise Region.
NOTE: At Boise Regional REALTORS® (BRR), we typically report actual counts or averages, and year-over-year trends. Seasonally adjusted figures and month-to-month comparisons are helpful in gauging the pace of the market as it moves through the usual, annual cycle. To draw comparisons to this report, some of the local numbers above have been seasonally adjusted and will therefore differ from those that were reported in our most recent local market report, however, the overall trends remain the same.
Per a builder of a Parade Home, builders here have joined together and are advertising Boise in Southern California. He said an average of 58 a day are moving here. Is 58 per day accurate?? Thanks!
Thanks for your comment. At BRR we don’t have a way to track the number of people moving to the region – we can only share statistics on housing inventory and homes sold.