New Home Sales (Is my math correct?)

[Hosnon]

According to an article on CNBC.com, new home sales in March increased 27% to 411,000. The expectation was an increase to 330,000.

A 27% increase to 411,000 means a starting point of 323,623. So the expected increase was 6,377, or 2%.

A 27% increase instead of a 2% increase? Am I missing something?

[cbdo2007]

1. I don't think most people see "new home" sales recovering very quickly...

due to all of the "used homes" (foreclosure) available and such great prices.

In my area, the price of new construction hasn't come down very much because the builders don't want to lose money so they're just holding out so that when the market does recover they'll get back their money. On the other hand you can get a great deal here still on a used home because prices are still pretty low.

So, your math appears to be correct. They probably expected a very small 2% increase but ended up with an amazing 27% increase, but that's with help from the govt. programs still. We'll see what the summer numbers bring...

[TexasObserver]

2. It also said it was the biggest one month jump in 47 years.

And it said the prior month, February, was a record bad month.