• September new home sales rebounded sharply from August, increasing 18.9 percent to 667,000 units (SAAR) according to the Census Bureau, the most sales in a single month since October 2007.
• The South accounted for more than three-quarters of the increase, suggesting the rebound was driven by recovery from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. But sales also increased elsewhere in the country.
• The number of new homes on the market was flat at 279,000 units (SAAR), but estimates of August inventory were revised downward.
• The median seasonally adjusted price of new homes sold in September increased 3.3 percent from August to $315,750, below the record highs reported this summer.

After a disappointing summer, new home sales roared back in September to record their best month in almost a decade.

September new home sales jumped 18.9 percent from August, to 667,000 units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR), according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It was the largest single-month increase in new home sales since July 2005 and brings new home sales to their highest level since October 2007. Sales for June, July and August were also revised upward by a combined 8,000 units (SAAR). Home sales were up 17 percent from last September, breaking a string of two consecutive year-over-year declines recorded in July and August.

The recovery from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which hit Texas and Florida in late August and early September, was very clearly the driving force behind the rebound. Sales in the South increased by 25.8 percent from August to September, compared to a 10.6 percent increase in the Midwest and a 2.9 percent increase in the West. Out of the total 106,000 additional new home sales nationwide in September relative to August, 83,000 (78 percent) were in the South. Still, the strength in sales was broadbased. If sales in the South had increased in line with sales in the Midwest, nationwide sales would still have been up 10.2 percent, to 618,000 units (SAAR). If they had increased in line with sales with the West, nationwide sales would have been up 4.1 percent, to 584,000 units (SAAR).

The number of new homes for sale in September was unchanged from August, at 279,000 units (SAAR), comparable to levels seen in June 2009 and up 15.3 percent from September 2016. But August inventory was revised downward by 5,000 units and inventory is still low by historic standards, particularly when controlling for population growth.

The median seasonally adjusted price of new homes sold in September increased 3.3 percent from August to $315,750, up 1.6 percent from September 2016 though shy of the record high of $330,245 reported in July.