The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[10nisman]

Same anecdotal evidence in Atlanta as well.

There's seasonality in housing... Inventory of new homes is still near a record low.

New home sales for May were reported at 769,000 on a seasonally adjusted annual rate basis (SAAR). Sales for the previous three months were revised down significantly. This was well below consensus expectations for May, but still the highest sales rate for May since 2007. However, sales were in line with home builder comments about "limiting sales" in April and May mostly due to high material costs.

The inventory of completed homes for sale was at 36 thousand in May, just above the record low of 33 thousand in April 2021. That is about 0.6 months of completed supply (just above the record low). While the inventory of new homes under construction, and not started, is at 4.6 months - a normal level.