New home absolute inventories continue to fall but weak sales drive up months of supply
Posted By:
Tom Sanderson
Date Posted:
Monday, April 04, 2011
11:00 AM
Seasonally adjusted new home inventory increased to 8.9 months of supply in February from 7.4 months in January. The absolute inventory of new homes continues to fall and is now at 186 thousand, the lowest level seen since the late 1960's. Any recovery in the rate of sales would quickly deplete the low absolute inventory level and lead to a significant increase in housing starts (and freight) but that does not appear likely in the near term. The vertical bars in the graphs represent recessions.
