Highlights
The housing market is moving higher and at a fast clip. New home sales, in line with gains in existing home sales, surged 9.6 percent in July following an upward revised 9.1 percent surge in June. The 433,000 annual unit pace is the best since September last year. The strong sales pulled down new homes on the market to 271,000 vs. 280,000 in June and compared with 419,000 a year ago. The 271,000 level is the lowest since 1993. Supply at the current sales rate is down to 7.5 months, the lowest level since April 2007 and well down from June's 8.5 months. The median price steadied, down only 0.1 percent in the month at $210,100 and offering confirmation of the turning point seen in Case-Shiller data. Regional breakdown shows sales gains concentrated in the largest region, the South. This report is solid all the way around and suggests that scarcity of available credit is no longer holding the housing market back. Stocks jumped in immediate reaction to the report and are likely to carry commodities with them. The dollar showed limited initial reaction.

Market Consensus Before Announcement
New home sales jumped 11.0 percent in June to a higher-than-expected annual rate of 384,000 and the highest rate this year. The month-to-month percentage change was the highest in nearly nine years. Most importantly, the strong sales drew down supply which fell from May's 10.2 months to 8.8 months for the lowest reading in nearly two years. Looking ahead, the Housing Market Index from the National Association of Homebuilders indicated that traffic of prospective buyers was flat in June and July but moderately improved from lows seen in late 2008 and early 2009. Traffic also picked up in August but would not show up in July sales.

2009 Release Schedule

Released On: 1/29 2/26 3/25 4/24 5/28 6/24 7/27 8/26 9/25 10/28 11/25 12/23 Released For: Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov