October 2012
Southeast homebuilders and residential brokers reported that sales remained ahead of the year-earlier level in August. Sixty-one percent of brokers noted sales gains year over year while 68 percent of builders indicated sales rose.
Both builders and brokers indicated that home inventories continued to decline on a year-over-year basis. Most builders and brokers reported that new home inventories were unchanged from July to August.
The majority of Southeast brokers and home builders reported that home prices increased on a year-over-year basis in August.
Residential brokers and builders in the region indicated that buyer traffic remained ahead of the year-earlier level in August. Builders indicated that traffic held steady from July to August while most brokers reported that traffic was flat to slightly up.
Southeast brokers and homebuilders anticipate year-over-year home sales growth will remain positive over the next several months.
Southeast builders reported that construction activity remained ahead of the year-earlier level in August, and the outlook is for construction to remain positive.
Note: The poll results are based on responses from 64 residential brokers and 33 builders. Responses were collected September 4–12, 2012.
The housing survey's diffusion indexes are calculated as the percentage of total respondents reporting increases minus the percentage reporting declines. Positive values in the index indicate increased activity; negative values indicate decreased activity.
