September 2012
Southeast homebuilders and residential brokers reported that sales remained ahead of the year-earlier level in July. Sixty-eight percent of both brokers and builders noted sales gains year over year.
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 flat to down from June to July.
The majority of Southeast brokers and home builders reported that home prices increased on a year-over-year basis in July.
Residential brokers and builders in the region indicated that buyer traffic remained ahead of the year-earlier level in July, and both groups indicated that traffic improved again from June to July.
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 July, and the outlook is for construction to remain positive.
Note: The poll results are based on responses from 65 residential brokers and 28 builders. Responses were collected August 6—15, 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.
