Sales of new single-family homes bounded 6.7 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 689,000, compared with April’s rate of 646,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The sales rate is 14.1 percent above the May 2017 estimate of 604,000.
The median sales prices for new homes in May was $313,000; the average sales price was $368,500. National Association of Home Builders Senior Economist Michael Neal said the shift to more moderately priced home sales was an “encouraging” sign for newcomers in the market.
“Since the end of the Great Recession, inventory has tracked the pace of sales growth,” Neal said in a statement. “While we expect continued gains in single-family housing production, inventory may be partially constrained by ongoing price increases for lumber and other construction materials.”
The inventory of new houses for sale at the end of May was 299,000, equal to a supply of 5.2 months at the current sales rate.
Regionally, new home sales soared in the South during May, climbing 17.9 percent from April. Sales fell 10 and 8.7 percent in the Northeast and West, respectively. Sales in the Midwest were unchanged.
