Average price of new homes in US rises to US$330,600US economists believe low mortgage rates and changes in home preferences brought on by the pandemic will continue to support new home sales, though perhaps not at recent levels. “Sales may struggle to maintain their July pace going forward,” said Nancy Vanden Houten of Oxford Economics. ”While strong demand and lower mortgage rates are supportive of further growth in sales, the slow recovery and weak labor market pose downside risks.”Regionally, construction of new homes fell only in the northeast in July, which saw a 23.1 percent decline. The midwest saw a whopping 58.8 percent increase, followed by the south’s 13 percent jump and an increase of 7.8 percent in the west. The average price of a new home sold in July increased to US$330,600, up 7.2 percent from one year ago.-AP

Source: The Standard August 26, 2020 01:07 UTC