Fewer people than expected bought new homes in the US in March, marking the third straight month of decline in new home sales.
Demand in the West plummeted nearly 24%, and sales fell in the region to match the weakest pace since July 2014, while total sales nationwide decreased 1.5% to a 511,000 annualized pace, Bloomberg reports.
While the numbers may seem bleak, “The overall picture is still pretty good,” says Tom Simons, a money market economist at Jefferies in NY.
And while the western market undeniably suffered, sales in the South climbed 5% to their strongest levels in over a year, while the Northeast was unchanged. Sales also jumped 18.5% in the Midwest—the first gain in the region in three months. [Bloomberg]
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