WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - New home sales in the U.S. saw a substantial decrease in the month of May, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday.
The Commerce Department said new home sales plunged by 11.3 percent to an annual rate of 619,000 in May after jumping by 2.0 percent to a revised rate of 698,000 in April.
Economists had expected new home sales to rise to an annual rate of 640,000 from the 634,000 originally reported for the previous month.
The report also said the median sales price of new houses sold in May was $417,400, down 0.9 percent compared to $421,200 in the same month a year ago.
The estimate of new houses for sale at the end of May was 481,000, which represents 9.3 months of supply at the current sales rate. The months of supply is up from 6.9 in May 2023.
Last Friday, the National Association of Realtors released a separate report showing existing home sales in the U.S. decreased roughly in line with economist estimates in the month of May.
The report said existing home sales slid 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 4.11 million in May after tumbling by 1.9 percent to an annual rate of 4.14 million. Economists had expected existing home sales to drop to a rate of 4.10 million.
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