Data on new residential sales is released monthly by the Census Bureau, detailing the number of new single-family houses sold in a given month in the United States.

Source: http://www.census.gov/construction/nrs/

Data Release: http://www.census.gov/construction/nrs/pdf/newressales.pdf

Federal policy has long played a role in homeownership. The homeownership rate, released by the Census Bureau quarterly, is an important indicator for the larger economy because of the outlying effects of homeownership. With the rising trend towards rental housing, the homeownership rate has been watched even more closely. It is calculated by dividing all owner-occupied units by the total number of occupied housing units in the United States.

Source: http://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/data/histtabs.html

Both the Home and Rental Vacancies are important economic indicators. They gauge the economic climate by estimating the percentage of vacant units among all housing inventory.

Source: http://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/data/histtabs.html