NEW HOUSES SOLD IN FEBRUARY 1996 Sales of new one-family houses in February 1996 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 700,000, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of the Census. This is 1 (+/-11) percent below the revised January rate of 709,000, but 21 (+/-15) percent above the February 1995 rate of 577,000. The median sales price of new houses sold in February 1996 was $134,900; the mean sales price was $161,900. At the end of February, the seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale was 368,000. This represents a supply of 6.0 months at the current sales rate. The release date for New Home Sales data for March 1996 will be April 29, 1996, at 10:00 AM EDT. EXPLANATORY NOTES These statistics are estimated from sample surveys. They are subject to sampling variability and errors of response and nonreporting. Estimated average relative standard errors of the data are shown in the tables. Whenever a statement such as "an increase of 3 (+/-4) percent" appears in the text, this indicates the range (from -1 percent to +7 percent) in which the actual percent change is likely to have occured. All ranges given for percent changes are 90-percent confidence intervals. If the range contains zero, it is unclear whether there was an increase or decrease; that is, the change is not statistically significant. For any comparison cited without a confidence interval, the change is statistically significant. The December 1995/January 1996 issue of CURRENT CONSTRUCTION REPORTS (C25) includes explanations of confidence intervals and sampling variability. Changes in seasonally adjusted statistics often show irregular movement. It takes 4 months to establish a trend. On the average, preliminary monthly sales estimates are revised +/- 5 percent. Changes in sales price data reflect changes in the distribution of houses by region, size, etc., as well as changes in the prices of houses with identical characteristics. NEW ONE-FAMILY HOUSES SOLD: FEBRUARY 1996 United North- Mid- Period States east west South West Seasonally adjusted annual rate 1995 - February 577 65 106 276 129 March 614 56 121 269 167 April 608 55 124 255 174 May 667 52 124 287 204 June 724 75 136 297 216 July 782 54 141 381 207 August 707 51 138 313 205 September 684 44 130 304 206 October 673 50 123 305 195 November(r) 679 43 128 310 198 December(r) 685 81 123 299 181 1996 - January(r) 709 47 154 311 196 FEBRUARY(p) 700 58 117 313 213 AVG. RSE(%) 5 22 11 9 9 Not seasonally adjusted 1994 670 61 123 295 191 1995(r) 667 56 125 300 187 AVG. RSE(%) 2 6 7 3 4 1995 First 2 months 94 8 16 45 25 1996 First 2 months 112 7 19 51 35 AVG. RSE(%) 4 17 9 6 6 1995 - February 47 4 9 23 11 November(r) 46 3 9 21 13 December(r) 45 7 7 20 12 1996 - January(r) 52 3 10 24 15 FEBRUARY(p) 60 4 10 27 20 AVG. RSE(%) 5 22 11 9 9 Number of houses in thousands. (p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. AVG. RSE(%): Annual - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the last two years. YTD - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the current period and the same period last year. Monthly - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the latest six month period(January-June or July-December). NEW ONE-FAMILY HOUSES FOR SALE AT END OF PERIOD AND MONTHS SUPPLY AT CURRENT SALES RATE: FEBRUARY 1996 Seasonally adjusted Not Seasonally adjusted Houses Months Houses for sale Months for supply supply Period sale (1) (1) United States United North- Mid- South West States east west 1994 (X) (X) 340 55 63 140 82 (X) 1995(r) (X) (X) 377 62 69 160 86 (X) AVG. RSE(%) (X) (X) 3 10 6 4 6 (X) 1995 - February 346 7.1 341 54 62 143 82 7.2 March 346 6.8 343 55 62 146 80 5.7 April 349 6.8 344 56 61 148 80 5.9 May 347 6.3 346 58 61 149 79 5.5 June 347 5.9 349 57 62 151 78 5.4 July 344 5.6 343 58 63 145 77 5.3 August 349 6.0 350 59 64 149 78 5.5 September 350 6.4 354 60 64 151 78 6.5 October 360 6.6 361 62 66 153 79 6.7 November(r) 368 6.7 371 64 69 156 82 8.0 December(r) 375 6.6 377 62 69 160 86 8.4 1996 - January(r) 377 6.5 377 62 68 162 86 7.3 FEBRUARY(p) 368 6.0 375 60 69 163 84 6.3 AVG. RSE(%) 4 6 4 15 8 5 5 6 Number of houses in thousands. (p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. (X) Not applicable. (1) Ratio of houses for sale to houses sold. Seasonally adjusted ratio derived from unadjusted ratio. AVG. RSE(%): Annual - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the last two years. Monthly - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the latest six month period(January-June or July-December). MEDIAN AND AVERAGE SALES PRICE: FEBRUARY 1996 Period Median Average 1994 130,000 154,500 1995(r) 133,400 158,500 AVG. RSE(%) 2 2 1995 - February 135,000 160,200 November(r) 137,000 160,700 December(r) 138,000 165,100 1996 - January(r) 130,000 152,000 FEBRUARY(p) 134,900 161,900 AVG. RSE(%) 4 4 Dollars. Includes value of improved lot. (p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. AVG. RSE(%): Annual - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the last two years. Monthly - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the latest six month period(January-June or July-December). Source: Construction Reports, Series C25, New One-Family Houses Sold. C25 Reports are available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Annual subscription: $16.00. Questions regarding these data may be directed to Dale R. Jacobson, Construction Starts Branch, telephone (301) 457-4666.