Home prices were up only slightly. The median new home price of $144,700 was unchanged from the first quarter and up only 3 percent from last year. A shrinking inventory of existing homes (down 7 percent from a year ago) helped push prices upward by 4 percent to $123,700.
Home sales remained strong. New home sales were 5 percent below last quarter but up 7 percent from the second quarter of 1996, while sales of existing homes were 1 percent above the previous quarter but 2 percent below a year ago.
Other indicators suggest that residential construction will continue at near-record levels in the coming months. New house construction permits in the second quarter were the same as in 1996 -- the highest number in 8 years. Construction starts were within 3 percent of their 1996 level, which was the best in the last 9 years. Shipments of manufactured homes were only 4 percent below 1996's all-time record level.
In other features, U.S. Housing Market Conditions reports economic growth and steady housing demand in almost every region. A special analysis of new data on the changing location and composition of employment and business establishments in the early 1990s documents the continued suburbanization of metropolitan economies, although central cities have benefited from the economic recovery since 1993 and continue to be vital centers of economic activity.
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