In May, sales of new single-family houses were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 676,000, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The new data shows a 16.6% increase above the revised April rate of 580,000 and is 12.7% above the May 2019 estimate of 600,000.
“We believe today’s new home sales report from the Census Bureau provided further evidence of the comparative resiliency of the housing sector,” says Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae. “While the sales jump was in line with our expectations, the large downward revision to April sales resulted in a considerably lower base level than we had forecast. Still, year-to-date sales are up 1.7% compared to 2019.”
The median sales price of new houses sold in May was $317,900, an almost 2% gain year over year, according to Robert Dietz, chief economist for the NAHB. The average sales price also increased to $368,800.
The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of May was 318,000. This represents a supply of 5.6 months at the current sales rate.
“The May data, although reporting gains off a relatively weak April pace, add an additional data point of a housing rebound and marking housing as a leading sector in the developing economic rebound,” states Dietz.
