New Home Sales Suffer Biggest March Crash In History

After the plunge in homebuilder sentiment as they are forced to face reality and the big drop in existing home sales, new home sales were expected to tumble in March (after already dropping in February – bucking the uptrend in existing- and pending-sales).

New Home Sales crashed by 15.4% MoM – the biggest drop since July 2013 – smashing the year-over-year comparison down 9.5%…

Source: Bloomberg

This is the biggest decline for March… ever…

Source: Bloomberg

From the best levels in 13 years, sales are crashing fast (and the last two months were also revised downward)…

Source: Bloomberg

The median sales price rose from the prior year to $321,400.

As Bloomberg notes, March was the first month when U.S. state closures of restaurants, retailers and other non-essential business became more widespread. The data underscore how the pandemic and broader uncertainty about the economy is thwarting potential homebuyers.