New home sales promises in the United States jumped 5% last year, posting a level never seen before for the last month of the year in December, the National Federation of Realtors (NAR) said on Friday. .
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The index measuring this data rose to 111.1 points in 2020 against 105.8 the previous year. In December, it was down 0.3% due to the lack of available housing on the market. This is the 4th decline in a row. However, the index remained at its highest level ever recorded for a month of December at 125.5 points. Over one year, it also jumped 21.4%. “Contracts on promises to sell houses have declined in recent months, but I would attribute this to having too few houses for sale», Summarized Lawrence Yun, chief economist of NAR.
«There is a high demand for housing and a large number of potential buyers, and therefore sales would increase if more properties were for sale“, he added. He notes that sustained demand combined with supply that does not increase in the same proportions has led to an increase in house prices. According to him, we can expect price pressure to continue in the short term. The economist is counting on “strong economic growth“In the United States in 2021, supported by low mortgage rates and fiscal stimulus,”what will drive home sales».
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This leading indicator was at 100 in January 2001, when it was launched. By region in December, promises to sell increased by 3.12% in the North East (+ 22.1% compared to December 2019) but in the center, they fell by 3.6% (+ 13.9% on a year). In the South, they increased by 0.1% (+ 26.6% compared to December 2019) while in the West, they remained unchanged (+ 18.9% over one year). The whole real estate sector posted an insolent health last year, in favor of interest rates close to zero and boosted by the desires of larger spaces of “white cabbages“, Forced to telework due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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