**MNI: 5 Things We Learned From New Residential Sales Data>

By Holly Stokes and Sara Haire

     WASHINGTON (MNI) - The following are the key points from the 

November new residential sales data released Friday by the 

Commerce Department: 

     -November new home sales saw a 17.5% increase to 733k SAAR, its 

highest level since July 2007 (778k), well above the 658k expected. This 

is the highest percentage increase since January 1992.  

     -Sales saw large rises in all regions, with the South seeing a 

14.9% increase to 416k, the highest level since June 2007 (440k). The 

West rose 31.1% to 194k, the highest since July 2007 (210k), the 

Northeast saw a 9.5% jump to 46k, the highest since January 2008 (50k), 

and the Midwest saw a 6.9% rise to 77k. 

     - New homes for sale was unchanged in November at 283k. 

     -Due to no change in new homes for sale and a large uptick in 

sales, the months supply on the market fell 14.8% to 4.6 months from 5.4 

months in October. This percent change is the largest decrease since 

February 1996. 

     -Despite no change in new homes for sale and the months supply 

declining, the median new home sales price fell 0.3% to $318,700, but up 

1.2% y/y.  

     ** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 ** 

[TOPICS: MAUDS$,M$U$$$,MAUDR$]