New-home sales fell 6.8 per cent in June from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 482,000, the lowest reading since November 2014, the US Commerce Department said Friday.
US new home sales fell 1.1 per cent in May, down from an initially reported 2.2 per cent increase. Sales jumped 28 per cent in the Northeast last month, but fell 17 per cent in the West, 11.1 per cent in the Midwest and 4.1% per cent in the South.
Broader trends suggest the new-home market is gaining momentum along with the broader housing industry. New-home purchases are up 18.1 per cent from a year ago.
US New and Existing Home Sales, Prices
Sales also averaged an annual rate of 512,000 in the first half of the year, compared with an average of 440,000 for all of 2014, said Jim O’Sullivan, chief US economist for High Frequency Economics to the New York Times Friday
A report from the National Association of Realtors released Wednesday showed sales of previously owned homes—the bulk of the market—climbed 3.2 per cdent in June, hitting their highest pace since February 2007.
Friday’s report showed the price of a typical home cooled last month. The median price of a new home sold in June stood at $281,800, down 1.8% from a year earlier. The average price also fell 2.8 per cent over the past year, to $328,700.
The months’ supply of new homes—reflecting how long it would take to exhaust all homes on the market at May’s sales pace—rose to 5.4 last month from 4.5 in May and 4.6 in April. Shrinking inventories had been putting pressure on prices in recent months.