For Release 10:00 A.M. EST, Thurdsay, January 6, 2000 CB00-02 NOVEMBER 1999 NEW HOUSING SALES AT ANNUAL RATE OF 865,000 Sales of new one-family houses in November 1999 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 865,000 according to estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 7 (+/-9) percent below the revised October rate of 931,000 and 12 (+/-10) percent below the November 1998 rate of 985,000. The median sales price of new houses sold in November 1999 was $167,400; the mean sales price was $209,700. At the end of November, the seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale was 316,000. This represents a supply of 4.5 months at the current sales rate. Through November of this year, there were 848,000 houses sold compared with 825,000 sold during the same period last year. This is an increase of 3 (+/-3) percent. New Home Sales data for December 1999 will be released on February 2, 2000, at 10:00 A.M. EST. EXPLANATORY NOTES These statistics are estimated from sample surveys. They are subject to sampling variability as well as nonsampling error including bias and variance from response, nonreporting, and undercoverage. Estimated average relative standard errors of the preliminary data are shown in the tables. Whenever a statement such as "3 (+/-4) percent above" appears in the text, this indicates the range (from -1 percent to +7 percent) in which the actual percent change is likely to have occurred. All ranges given for percent changes are 90-percent confidence intervals and account only for sampling variability. If a range contains zero, it is uncertain whether there was an increase or decrease; that is, the change is not statistically significant. The January 1999 issue of Current Construction Reports, C25/99-1, includes explanations of confidence intervals and sampling variability. Changes in seasonally adjusted statistics often show irregular movement. It takes 4 months to establish a trend for new houses sold. Preliminary new home sales figures are subject to revision due to the survey methodology and definitions used. The survey is primarily based on a sample of houses selected from building permits. Since a "sale" is defined as a deposit taken or sales agreement signed, this can occur prior to a permit being issued. An estimate of these prior sales is included in the sales figure. On average, the preliminary seasonally adjusted estimate of total sales is revised +/-3 percent. Changes in sales price data reflect changes in the distribution of houses by region, size, etc., as well as changes in the prices of houses with identical characteristics. TABLE 1A. NEW ONE-FAMILY HOUSES SOLD: NOVEMBER 1999 United North- Mid- Period States east west South West Seasonally adjusted annual rate 1998 - November 985 91 161 438 295 December 958 84 177 438 259 1999 - January 908 83 149 408 268 February 909 79 178 440 212 March 885 77 158 395 255 April 952 81 177 422 272 May 914 70 178 422 245 June 932 65 167 430 270 July 929 84 176 425 245 August(r) 912 85 193 384 250 September(r) 854 78 166 384 227 October(r) 931 73 204 392 261 NOVEMBER(p) 865 50 188 380 247 AVG. RSE(%) 4 19 12 6 7 Not seasonally adjusted 1997 804 78 140 363 223 1998 886 81 164 398 243 AVG. RSE(%) 2 6 7 3 4 1998 First 11 months 825 77 154 367 227 1999 First 11 months 848 70 163 381 234 AVG. RSE(%) 2 6 6 3 2 1998 - November 70 7 12 31 20 1999 - August(r) 81 8 16 34 22 September(r) 67 7 12 30 18 October(r) 70 5 16 30 20 NOVEMBER(p) 63 4 13 28 17 AVG. RSE(%) 4 19 12 6 7 Number of houses in thousands. (p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. AVG. RSE(%): Annual - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the last two years. YTD - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the current period and the same period last year. Monthly - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the latest six month period(January-June or July-December). TABLE 1B. NEW ONE-FAMILY HOUSES FOR SALE AT END OF PERIOD AND MONTHS SUPPLY AT CURRENT SALES RATE: NOVEMBER 1999 Seasonally adjusted Not Seasonally adjusted Houses Months Houses for sale Months for supply supply Period sale (1) (1) United States United North- Mid- South West States east west 1997 (X) (X) 287 26 65 127 69 (X) 1998 (X) (X) 300 28 63 142 68 (X) AVG. RSE(%) (X) (X) 3 10 6 4 6 (X) 1998 - November 292 3.7 292 25 62 137 67 4.2 December 295 3.8 300 28 63 142 68 4.9 1999 - January 295 4.0 294 27 61 140 66 4.4 February 297 3.9 291 24 60 141 66 3.7 March 300 4.1 296 25 60 145 67 3.4 April 300 3.8 299 25 59 148 67 3.4 May 304 4.1 302 25 60 149 68 3.6 June 306 3.9 307 26 60 150 71 3.6 July 305 4.0 305 26 61 147 72 3.8 August(r) 307 4.2 305 26 62 148 70 3.8 September(r) 309 4.4 311 25 62 152 72 4.7 October(r) 312 4.1 314 26 64 153 70 4.5 NOVEMBER(p) 316 4.5 319 28 65 155 70 5.1 AVG. RSE(%) 3 5 3 11 7 5 4 5 Number of houses in thousands. (p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. (X) Not applicable. AVG. RSE(%): Annual - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the last two years. Monthly - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the latest six month period(January-June or July-December). (1) Ratio of houses for sale to houses sold. Seasonally adjusted ratio derived from unadjusted ratio. TABLE 2. MEDIAN AND AVERAGE SALES PRICE: NOVEMBER 1999 Period Median Average 1997 146,000 176,200 1998 152,500 181,900 AVG. RSE(%) 2 2 1998 - November 151,000 178,600 1999 - August(r) 154,900 193,300 September(r) 160,100 193,900 October(r) 159,000 201,300 NOVEMBER(p) 167,400 209,700 AVG. RSE(%) 4 2 Dollars. Includes value of improved lot. (NA) Not available. (p) Preliminary. (r) Revised. AVG. RSE(%): Annual - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the last two years. Monthly - Avg. Relative Standard Error for the latest six month period(January-June or July-December). Source: Construction Reports, Series C25, New One-Family Houses Sold. C25 Reports are available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Annual subscription: $28.00. Questions or comments regarding these data may be directed to Dale R. Jacobson, Residential Construction Branch, Manufacturing and Construction Division, U.S. Census Bureau. Telephone: (301) 457-1321. The following data will appear in Tables 3 through 6 of this month's Current Construction Report. TABLE 3. HOUSES SOLD AND FOR SALE, BY STAGE OF CONSTRUCTION (THOUSANDS OF HOUSES. COMPONENTS MAY NOT ADD TO TOTAL BECAUSE OF ROUNDING) SOLD DURING PERIOD UNDER CONSTRUC- TOTAL COMPLETED TION NOT STARTED 1995................. 667 238 223 205 1996................. 757 275 254 228 1997................. 804 236 295 273 1998................. 886 228 334 324 MONTHLY DATA 1996: JANUARY...... 54 19 17 18 FEBRUARY..... 68 21 21 26 MARCH........ 70 22 23 24 APRIL........ 70 22 27 22 MAY.......... 69 25 24 20 JUNE......... 65 24 21 20 JULY......... 66 27 21 18 AUGUST....... 73 26 27 20 SEPTEMBER.... 62 23 22 17 OCTOBER...... 56 21 19 15 NOVEMBER..... 54 20 17 17 DECEMBER..... 51 20 15 17 1997: JANUARY...... 61 22 20 19 FEBRUARY..... 69 23 23 23 MARCH........ 81 25 29 27 APRIL........ 70 21 24 26 MAY.......... 71 23 24 24 JUNE......... 71 19 30 22 JULY......... 69 20 26 22 AUGUST....... 72 19 28 25 SEPTEMBER.... 67 18 26 22 OCTOBER...... 62 18 24 20 NOVEMBER..... 61 18 24 19 DECEMBER..... 51 14 17 19 1998: JANUARY...... 64 18 22 25 FEBRUARY..... 75 19 26 30 MARCH........ 81 20 30 31 APRIL........ 82 20 32 30 MAY.......... 82 17 34 31 JUNE......... 83 21 31 31 JULY......... 75 21 30 24 AUGUST....... 75 19 32 25 SEPTEMBER.... 68 18 26 25 OCTOBER...... 69 19 28 22 NOVEMBER..... 70 20 26 23 DECEMBER..... 61 17 23 21 1999: JANUARY...... 67 14 27 26 FEBRUARY..... 78 19 29 30 MARCH........ 86 19 35 31 APRIL........ 88 18 36 34 MAY.......... 83 19 34 30 JUNE......... 86 21 34 31 JULY......... 80 20 32 28 AUGUST\r..... 81 21 32 28 SEPTEMBER\r.. 67 16 28 22 OCTOBER\r.... 70 19 31 21 NOVEMBER\p... 63 16 27 19 AVERAGE RELATIVE STANDARD ERRORS ANNUAL (PERCENT)..... 2 4 3 5 MONTHLY (PERCENT).... 4 7 5 11 See footnotes at end of table. TABLE 3. HOUSES SOLD AND FOR SALE, BY STAGE OF CONSTRUCTION - CONTINUED (THOUSANDS OF HOUSES. COMPONENTS MAY NOT ADD TO TOTAL BECAUSE OF ROUNDING) FOR SALE AT END OF PERIOD UNDER CONSTRUC- TOTAL COMPLETED TION NOT STARTED 1995................. 374 123 199 52 1996................. 326 101 185 40 1997................. 287 92 161 34 1998................. 300 72 185 43 MONTHLY DATA 1996: JANUARY...... 370 122 196 51 FEBRUARY..... 362 120 192 50 MARCH........ 362 120 189 53 APRIL........ 366 119 195 51 MAY.......... 360 114 195 52 JUNE......... 355 113 193 48 JULY......... 351 111 191 49 AUGUST....... 342 106 192 44 SEPTEMBER.... 332 103 185 43 OCTOBER...... 332 103 186 43 NOVEMBER..... 330 101 189 40 DECEMBER..... 326 101 185 40 1997: JANUARY...... 309 97 174 38 FEBRUARY..... 296 95 165 37 MARCH........ 284 91 158 35 APRIL........ 289 91 165 33 MAY.......... 286 90 163 33 JUNE......... 288 89 163 36 JULY......... 289 88 165 36 AUGUST....... 284 87 163 34 SEPTEMBER.... 285 90 164 31 OCTOBER...... 287 91 163 33 NOVEMBER..... 281 92 158 31 DECEMBER..... 287 92 161 34 1998: JANUARY...... 282 86 161 35 FEBRUARY..... 277 85 157 35 MARCH........ 281 81 164 36 APRIL........ 286 80 168 38 MAY.......... 284 81 166 37 JUNE......... 287 77 173 37 JULY......... 284 75 171 39 AUGUST....... 283 74 172 37 SEPTEMBER.... 291 75 177 39 OCTOBER...... 296 77 181 39 NOVEMBER..... 292 73 185 34 DECEMBER..... 300 72 185 43 1999: JANUARY...... 294 72 182 39 FEBRUARY..... 291 70 182 39 MARCH........ 296 71 187 38 APRIL........ 299 73 183 44 MAY.......... 302 76 186 40 JUNE......... 307 76 181 50 JULY......... 305 73 183 49 AUGUST\r..... 305 71 188 46 SEPTEMBER\r.. 311 75 189 47 OCTOBER\r.... 314 74 195 44 NOVEMBER\p... 319 78 197 43 AVERAGE RELATIVE STANDARD ERRORS ANNUAL (PERCENT)..... 3 4 3 6 MONTHLY (PERCENT).... 3 5 3 5 p Preliminary. r Revised. TABLE 4. HOUSES SOLD BY SALES PRICE (THOUSANDS OF HOUSES. COMPONENTS MAY NOT ADD TO TOTAL BECAUSE OF ROUNDING.) NUMBER OF HOUSES/1 PERIOD 80000 100000 120000 150000 200000 UNDER TO TO TO TO AND TOTAL 80000 99999 119999 149999 199999 OVER 1995................ 667 58 101 99 144 127 138 1996................ 757 59 104 101 159 160 175 1997................ 804 51 93 103 173 177 207 1998................ 886 41 91 112 183 208 251 MONTHLY DATA 1996: JANUARY..... 54 4 10 8 11 10 11 FEBRUARY.... 68 6 10 9 14 14 15 MARCH....... 70 6 10 9 15 14 15 APRIL....... 70 5 11 8 14 16 15 MAY......... 69 6 9 10 15 15 15 JUNE........ 65 5 8 9 14 14 15 JULY........ 66 4 8 9 14 15 15 AUGUST...... 73 6 11 11 15 15 16 SEPTEMBER... 62 7 9 8 13 10 16 OCTOBER..... 56 4 7 7 12 12 13 NOVEMBER.... 54 4 7 7 12 11 14 DECEMBER.... 51 4 7 6 10 11 13 1997: JANUARY..... 61 3 8 8 13 13 15 FEBRUARY.... 69 5 9 9 15 14 18 MARCH....... 81 7 9 12 15 19 20 APRIL....... 70 5 7 9 14 16 19 MAY......... 71 4 9 9 15 15 17 JUNE........ 71 4 9 9 17 14 19 JULY........ 69 4 8 9 15 15 18 AUGUST...... 72 5 9 10 15 17 17 SEPTEMBER... 67 4 8 8 14 15 17 OCTOBER..... 62 3 7 9 14 13 15 NOVEMBER.... 61 4 8 7 13 13 16 DECEMBER.... 51 4 5 6 12 11 13 1998: JANUARY..... 64 3 8 9 13 14 17 FEBRUARY.... 75 3 8 11 13 18 23 MARCH....... 81 3 8 10 17 20 22 APRIL....... 82 4 9 11 19 18 22 MAY......... 82 4 9 11 15 20 23 JUNE........ 83 5 10 10 18 19 21 JULY........ 75 5 8 10 15 16 21 AUGUST...... 75 4 7 9 16 17 23 SEPTEMBER... 68 2 7 8 14 18 18 OCTOBER..... 69 3 7 9 13 16 21 NOVEMBER.... 70 3 6 9 16 17 19 DECEMBER.... 61 3 5 7 14 15 17 1999: JANUARY..... 67 3 7 7 15 17 18 FEBRUARY.... 78 3 6 10 17 17 26 MARCH....... 86 3 8 11 18 21 26 APRIL....... 88 2 10 9 18 21 28 MAY......... 83 3 7 10 19 18 26 JUNE........ 86 3 6 10 18 20 28 JULY........ 80 3 7 10 15 19 26 AUGUST\r.... 81 3 7 9 20 18 25 SEPTEMBER\r. 67 2 6 7 14 16 22 OCTOBER\r... 70 3 6 6 17 17 22 NOVEMBER\p.. 63 3 4 6 13 15 22 AVERAGE RELATIVE STANDARD ERRORS ANNUAL (PERCENT).... 2 7 5 6 5 5 5 MONTHLY (PERCENT)... 4 24 16 13 8 8 7 See footnotes at end of table. TABLE 4. HOUSES SOLD BY SALES PRICE - CONTINUED (COMPONENTS MAY NOT ADD TO TOTAL BECAUSE OF ROUNDING. PERCENTS COMPUTED FROM UNROUNDED FIGURES) PERCENT DISTRIBUTION/2 PERIOD 80000 100000 120000 150000 200000 UNDER TO TO TO TO AND 80000 99999 119999 149999 199999 OVER 1995................ 9 15 15 22 19 21 1996................ 8 14 13 21 21 23 1997................ 6 12 13 21 22 26 1998................ 5 10 13 21 23 28 MONTHLY DATA 1996: JANUARY..... 8 18 15 20 19 20 FEBRUARY.... 9 14 14 20 20 22 MARCH....... 8 14 13 22 20 22 APRIL....... 7 16 11 21 23 22 MAY......... 9 12 14 22 22 21 JUNE........ 8 13 14 22 22 22 JULY........ 7 12 14 22 23 23 AUGUST...... 8 14 15 21 20 21 SEPTEMBER... 11 15 12 20 17 26 OCTOBER..... 7 12 13 22 22 24 NOVEMBER.... 7 14 12 22 20 25 DECEMBER.... 7 13 13 20 22 26 1997: JANUARY..... 6 13 13 22 21 25 FEBRUARY.... 7 13 13 21 20 26 MARCH....... 8 11 14 18 23 25 APRIL....... 7 10 13 20 23 28 MAY......... 6 13 13 22 22 24 JUNE........ 5 12 12 24 20 27 JULY........ 6 12 13 21 22 26 AUGUST...... 6 13 14 21 24 23 SEPTEMBER... 6 12 12 21 23 25 OCTOBER..... 5 11 15 23 21 24 NOVEMBER.... 6 13 12 22 22 25 DECEMBER.... 7 10 11 23 23 25 1998: JANUARY..... 4 12 14 21 22 27 FEBRUARY.... 4 10 15 17 23 31 MARCH....... 4 10 12 21 25 27 APRIL....... 5 11 13 23 22 26 MAY......... 5 11 13 19 24 28 JUNE........ 6 12 12 22 22 26 JULY........ 6 10 14 20 21 28 AUGUST...... 5 10 12 21 22 30 SEPTEMBER... 3 10 12 21 27 26 OCTOBER..... 5 11 13 18 23 30 NOVEMBER.... 4 9 12 23 24 27 DECEMBER.... 6 8 11 23 24 28 1999: JANUARY..... 4 11 11 23 25 27 FEBRUARY.... 4 7 13 21 21 33 MARCH....... 3 9 13 21 24 30 APRIL....... 3 11 11 20 23 32 MAY......... 4 8 13 23 21 31 JUNE........ 4 7 12 21 23 33 JULY........ 4 9 13 18 24 32 AUGUST\r.... 3 8 11 25 23 30 SEPTEMBER\r. 3 9 10 21 25 33 OCTOBER\r... 4 8 8 25 24 31 NOVEMBER\p.. 5 6 10 20 24 35 AVERAGE RELATIVE STANDARD ERRORS ANNUAL (PERCENT).... 7 5 6 5 5 5 MONTHLY (PERCENT)... 24 15 12 7 7 6 See footnotes at end of table. TABLE 4. HOUSES SOLD BY SALES PRICE - CONTINUED (IN DOLLARS) MEDIAN AVERAGE PERIOD SALES SALES PRICE PRICE 1995................ 133,900 158,700 1996................ 140,000 166,400 1997................ 146,000 176,200 1998................ 152,500 181,900 MONTHLY DATA 1996: JANUARY..... 131,900 155,300 FEBRUARY.... 139,400 163,700 MARCH....... 137,000 162,100 APRIL....... 140,000 170,000 MAY......... 136,400 163,300 JUNE........ 140,000 166,500 JULY........ 144,200 168,400 AUGUST...... 137,000 159,700 SEPTEMBER... 139,000 167,400 OCTOBER..... 143,800 168,400 NOVEMBER.... 143,500 172,000 DECEMBER.... 144,900 171,800 1997: JANUARY..... 145,000 171,900 FEBRUARY.... 143,000 171,100 MARCH....... 148,000 172,700 APRIL....... 150,000 179,500 MAY......... 141,000 170,700 JUNE........ 145,000 179,400 JULY........ 145,900 175,500 AUGUST...... 144,000 170,700 SEPTEMBER... 146,300 177,500 OCTOBER..... 141,500 172,900 NOVEMBER.... 145,000 175,400 DECEMBER.... 145,900 175,800 1998: JANUARY..... 148,000 178,600 FEBRUARY.... 156,000 181,600 MARCH....... 152,700 178,500 APRIL....... 148,000 176,700 MAY......... 153,200 183,500 JUNE........ 148,000 175,900 JULY........ 149,900 179,800 AUGUST...... 154,900 186,500 SEPTEMBER... 155,000 182,700 OCTOBER..... 154,500 182,800 NOVEMBER.... 151,000 178,600 DECEMBER.... 152,500 183,300 1999: JANUARY..... 152,500 182,800 FEBRAURY.... 159,900 191,400 MARCH....... 155,000 189,400 APRIL....... 160,000 191,400 MAY......... 154,800 188,200 JUNE......... 158,300 193,400 JULY......... 157,900 188,800 AUGUST\r..... 154,900 193,300 SEPTEMBER\r.. 160,100 193,900 OCTOBER\r.... 159,000 201,300 NOVEMBER\p... 167,400 209,700 AVERAGE RELATIVE STANDARD ERRORS ANNUAL (PERCENT).... 2 2 MONTHLY (PERCENT)... 4 2 p Preliminary. r Revised. 1 Houses for which sales price was not reported have been distributed proportionally to those for which sales price was reported. 2 Total equals 100 percent. Note: The sales price includes the price of the developed lot. TABLE 5. CURRENT SEASONAL FACTORS NEW HOUSES SOLD MONTH AND YEAR UNITED STATES IMPLICIT FACTOR North- Mid- South West east west 1999: AUGUST\r.............. 106.3 119.7 101.4 107.0 104.4 SEPTEMBER\r........... 93.5 102.4 86.2 93.4 96.0 OCTOBER\r............. 90.6 80.7 92.1 91.0 91.6 NOVEMBER\p............. 86.9 93.8 86.0 88.1 84.4 MEDIAN MONTHS FROM START TO.. MONTH AND YEAR MONTHS NEW SUPPLY AT HOUSES CURRENT END OF FOR SALE SALES RATE SALE MONTH 1999: AUGUST\r.............. 99.5 90.7 89.6 92.0 SEPTEMBER\r........... 100.6 105.0 90.6 93.1 OCTOBER\r............. 100.4 108.4 94.4 95.0 NOVEMBER\p............. 100.8 113.8 101.4 96.4 p Preliminary. r Revised. TABLE 6. MEDIAN NUMBER OF MONTHS ON SALES MARKET (HOUSES NOT STARTED ARE EXCLUDED. MEDIANS ARE COMPUTED FROM UNROUNDED FIGURES) HOUSES SOLD HOUSES FOR SALE MEASURED MEASURED FROM MEASURED FROM FROM MONTH OF START MONTH OF START MONTH OF COMPLETION NOT NOT NOT SEASONALLY SEASONALLY SEASONALLY SEASONALLY SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ADJUSTED ADJUSTED ADJUSTED ADJUSTED ANNUAL DATA 1995............... 4.3 (X) 5.3 (X) 5.5 1996............... 4.2 (X) 4.8 (X) 4.6 1997............... 3.7 (X) 4.9 (X) 4.3 1998............... 3.5 (X) 4.0 (X) 5.0 MONTHLY DATA 1996: JANUARY...... 4.7 4.0 5.5 5.2 5.7 FEBRUARY.... 4.5 4.0 5.7 5.0 5.7 MARCH....... 4.4 4.3 5.8 5.3 5.5 APRIL....... 4.2 4.1 5.6 5.3 5.7 MAY......... 4.4 4.5 5.4 5.3 5.8 JUNE........ 4.3 4.8 4.9 5.2 5.4 JULY........ 4.2 4.4 4.5 4.9 4.9 AUGUST...... 3.4 3.6 4.4 4.8 5.0 SEPTEMBER... 4.1 4.6 4.5 4.8 4.8 OCTOBER..... 4.0 4.4 4.5 4.7 4.4 NOVEMBER.... 4.3 4.0 4.5 4.7 4.6 DECEMBER.... 4.4 4.2 4.8 4.8 4.6 1997: JANUARY..... 4.8 4.2 5.1 4.9 4.9 FEBRUARY.... 4.5 4.1 5.3 4.8 4.8 MARCH....... 3.9 3.8 5.4 4.9 4.8 APRIL....... 4.1 4.2 5.2 4.8 4.6 MAY......... 3.8 3.8 4.7 4.6 4.7 JUNE........ 2.7 3.0 4.4 4.7 4.6 JULY........ 3.4 3.7 4.3 4.7 4.6 AUGUST...... 3.1 3.4 4.4 4.8 4.2 SEPTEMBER... 3.2 3.5 4.4 4.7 4.2 OCTOBER..... 3.4 3.6 4.4 4.7 4.0 NOVEMBER.... 3.8 3.7 4.6 4.8 3.9 DECEMBER.... 3.8 3.6 4.9 4.9 4.3 1998: JANUARY..... 4.3 3.6 5.1 4.8 4.9 FEBRUARY.... 4.2 3.8 5.3 4.8 5.3 MARCH....... 3.6 3.6 5.1 4.6 5.8 APRIL....... 3.9 3.8 4.5 4.2 5.9 MAY......... 2.7 2.7 4.2 4.2 5.5 JUNE........ 3.2 3.5 3.8 4.1 5.3 JULY........ 3.5 3.6 3.9 4.3 5.1 AUGUST...... 3.1 3.4 4.0 4.3 5.2 SEPTEMBER... 3.5 3.9 3.9 4.2 5.2 OCTOBER..... 3.1 3.3 4.0 4.2 4.8 NOVEMBER.... 3.4 3.4 3.9 4.0 5.0 DECEMBER.... 3.8 3.6 4.0 4.0 5.0 1999: JANUARY..... 3.3 2.8 4.3 4.0 5.1 FEBRUARY.... 4.0 3.6 4.4 4.0 5.1 MARCH....... 3.1 3.1 4.4 3.9 5.0 APRIL....... 3.6 3.4 4.2 4.0 4.8 MAY......... 2.9 3.0 3.8 3.9 4.2 JUNE......... 3.1 3.4 3.8 4.0 3.9 JULY......... 3.2 3.3 3.9 4.2 4.2 AUGUST\r..... 3.2 3.6 3.7 4.0 4.4 SEPTEMBER\r.. 3.0 3.4 3.9 4.2 4.1 OCTOBER\r.... 3.5 3.7 3.8 4.0 4.4 NOVEMBER\p... 3.2 3.1 3.9 4.0 4.5 AVERAGE RELATIVE STANDARD ERRORS ANNUAL (PERCENT).... 3 (X) 5 (X) 7 MONTHLY (PERCENT)... 11 11 6 6 13 p Preliminary. r Revised. X Not applicable. Source: Current Construction Reports, Series C25, New One-Family Houses Sold. C25 Reports are available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Annual subscription: $28.00. Questions or comments regarding these data may be directed to Dale R. Jacobson, Residential Construction Branch, Manufacturing and Construction Division, U.S. Census Bureau. Telephone: (301) 457-1321