• September new home sales rose 3.1 percent from August to 593,000 units (SAAR), after initially reported August data was revised sharply downward.
• The number of newly constructed homes available for sale in September fell 0.4 percent from August but was up 6.3 percent from a year ago, to 235,000 units.
• The seasonally adjusted price of new homes sold in September rose to $305,700, up 3.5 percent from August and 1.8 percent from a year ago – high, but below recent peaks.

It might be tempting to see some strength in the September new home sales data, given the decent growth from August. But in reality, August data was revised sharply downward, and September’s numbers — 593,000 sales — are pretty mediocre and well below the 800,000-to-1 million sales needed to really move the needle and help re-balance the housing market between buyers and sellers. Buyers still face limited inventory, despite a year-over-year gain, and the time a newly completed home spends on the market today is nearing all-time lows, indicating high demand and fierce competition. The price of new homes is also still pretty high, though below recent highs set earlier this year. Compared to 2005, bubble-era peak levels, the inventory of new homes for sale is down by more than 50 percent in the West, South and Midwest regions. Yes, those pre-recession highs may have turned out to be too lofty, but right now the market could easily absorb a lot more new homes than it is.