Graph of the Day: New Home Sales and Recessions, 1963-2008

From Calculated Risk:

The Census Bureau reports New Home Sales in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309 thousand. This is the lowest sales rate the Census Bureau has ever recorded (starting in 1963). The graph shows New Home Sales vs. recessions for the last 45 years. New Home sales have fallen off a cliff.

Sales of new one-family houses in January 2009 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 10.2 percent (±15.4%)* below the revised December rate of 344,000 and is 48.2 percent (±6.8%) below the January 2008 estimate of 597,000.

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Record Low New Home Sales in January