New housing activities climbed in March, increasing the supply of homes during the important spring period.
Sales of new homes rose 7.4% in March, according to Census Bureau data released Wednesday. Reading was well above Bloomberg’s consensus forecast of 685,000.
According to Bloomberg, 503,000 homes were sold at the end of March, up 0.6% from the previous month, the highest since 2007, and stockpiled.
Still, many buyers continue to be on the sidelines, thwarted by high borrowing costs. Some measures have shown that mortgage rates are approaching 7%, indicating that potential buyers are being blocked.
Mortgage fees tend to track 10-year financial yields (^TNX) that have risen recently as investors retreat as traditional, safe havens. The threat of firing Trump administration’s tariffs and the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has caused a reassessment of US assets and a blow to investors’ confidence in central bank independence.
In addition to the affordable challenges, House Hunter deals with high home prices. The average selling price of a new home rose 1% in March to $497,700.
It could exacerbate the pressure on affordability. During the call after the revenues on Tuesday, Pultegroup (PHM) warned that new tariffs could raise construction costs by about 1% by half a year.