In May, new home sales in the U.S. experienced a significant decline, as reported by the Commerce Department on Wednesday. The department indicated that sales plummeted by 11.3 percent to an annual rate of 619,000, following a 2.0 percent increase to a revised rate of 698,000 in April.
Economists had anticipated an increase in new home sales to an annual rate of 640,000, up from the originally reported 634,000 for the previous month.
Additionally, the report highlighted that the median sales price for new homes sold in May was $417,400, marking a 0.9 percent decrease from $421,200 in the same month last year.
The inventory of new houses available for sale at the end of May stood at 481,000, equating to 9.3 months of supply at the current sales rate. This is an increase from the 6.9 months of supply recorded in May 2023.
In a separate report released last Friday, the National Association of Realtors noted a decrease in existing home sales, aligning roughly with economist expectations for May. Existing home sales fell by 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 4.11 million, following a 1.9 percent drop to a rate of 4.14 million in April. Economists had forecasted a decline to a rate of 4.10 million.
