In another good sign for distributors, sales of new single-family houses in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 901,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 36.3% above the July 2019 estimate of 661,000 and 13.9% above the revised June rate of 791,000.

The movement of existing home sales should create further demand for residential construction, which represents a positive development for distributors selling into the building material and construction markets.

The median sales price of new houses sold in July 2020 was $330,600. The average sales price was $391,300. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of July was 299,000. This represents a supply of four months at the current sales rate.