Rising Mortgage Rates, Building Costs Push February New Homes Sales Down

Sales of new single-family homes tumbled 2% in February compared to the month prior on a lack of existing home inventory as well as rising mortgage rates and construction costs.

construction3 The seasonally adjusted rate in February was 772,000 units, down an even steeper 6.2% compared to February 2021, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau reported.

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is a senior analyst for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. Based in CRU’s Pittsburgh office, David can be reached at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.

David Schollaert

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