US new home sales fall to their lowest level in a year

The US Commerce Department said today that sales of new homes in the United States fell 5.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 769,000 units in May, the lowest level since May 2020. Analysts had expected US new home sales to record 870,000 units in May, and on an annualized basis US new home sales rose 9.2% in the 12 months to May.

The data showed that the median price of a new home rose 18.1% to $374,400 in May compared to the same period last year, and there were 330,000 new homes on the market in May, up from 315,000 in April.