In what I’m sure was a big surprise to everyone. New residential sales fell in May while home prices continued their climb, according to the latest date from the Census Bureau.
M-O-M: Sales fell 5.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 769,000.
Y-O-Y: Actually jumped 9.2 percent% when compared to the May 2020 estimate of 704,000.
The decline was driven by the South which saw the biggest monthly drop in May, falling 14.5%. The Midwest was unchanged from April while the West was up 6.7% and the Northeast jumped 33.3%
Home prices have soared in 2021 and new homes in May were no different…
- The median sales price was $374,400.
- The average sales price was $430,600
It wasn’t just home prices that were up in May. Inventory levels increased as well. The seasonally‐adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of May was 330,000. This represents a supply of 5.1 months at the current sales rate. This is a 10.9% jump from April and, unfortunately, represents a 3.2% drop from May 2020.