U.S. New-Home Sales Rise to 7-Year High

Source: The Wall Street Journal.

Trends suggest the market is gaining momentum along with the broader housing industry

By Josh Mitchell And Jeffrey Sparshott
@jeffsparshott
Jeffrey.Sparshott@wsj.com
jeffrey.sparshott@wsj.com

WASHINGTON—Sales of newly built homes rose to a seven-year high in May, the latest sign the housing market is building momentum after years of sluggish progress.

New-home sales climbed 2.2% in May from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 546,000, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That marked the highest level since February 2008, in the middle of the recession.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a rate of 522,000.

The government also revised April’s figure, which now shows sales rose 8.1% that month instead of the initially reported 6.8%.

Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-new-home-sales-rise-to-7-year-high-1435068249

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Let's go to the Census Bureau. Lather, rinse, repeat.

New Residential Sales

NEW RESIDENTIAL SALES IN MAY 2015

U.S. Census Bureau News
Joint Release
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
U.S. Department of Commerce Washington, D.C. 20233

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2015 AT 10:00 A.M. EDT
CB15-111

Raemeka Mayo or Stephen Cooper
Economic Indicators Division
(301) 763-5160

NEW RESIDENTIAL SALES IN MAY 2015

Sales of new single-family houses in May 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 546,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 2.2 percent (±16.7%)* above the revised April rate of 534,000 and is 19.5 percent (±19.7%)* above the May 2014 estimate of 457,000.

The median sales price of new houses sold in May 2015 was $282,800; the average sales price was $337,000. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of May was 206,000. This represents a supply of 4.5 months at the current sales rate.

New Residential Sales data for June 2015 will be released on Friday, July 24, 2015, at 10:00 A.M. EDT.
Our Internet site is: http://www.census.gov/newhomesales

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