The U.S. Commerce Department reported on Friday that the sales of new
single-family homes climbed 10.7 percent m-o-m to a seasonally adjusted annual
rate of 696,000 units in May.
Economists had predicted the sales pace of 588,000 last month.
The April sales’ pace was revised up to 629,000 units from the initially
reported 591,000 units.
According to the report, new home sales in the South, the largest area, surged
12.8 percent m-o-m in May. In addition, new home sales in the West jumped 39.3
percent m-o-m. Meanwhile, new home sales in the Northeast tumbled 51.1 percent
m-o-m and in those in the Midwest declined 18.3 percent m-o-m.
In y-o-y terms, new home sales decreased 5.9 percent in May.
The report also revealed that the median sales price rose 15.0 percent y-o-y
to $449,000, while the average sales price rose 14.8 percent y-o-y to $ 511,400.