New home sales peak in May

New home sales have surged, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sales of newly built, single-family homes rose 6.7 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 689,000 units. This is the second-highest sales report since the Great Recession, according to an analysis by the National Association of Home Builders.

“Sales numbers continue to grow, spurred on by rising home equity, job growth and reports of a greater number of millennials entering the single-family housing market,” Randy Noel, chairman of the NAHB, said in a statement.

The inventory of new homes for sale was 299,000 in May, which is a 5.2-month supply at the current sales pace. The median sales price was $313,000.

“We saw a shift to more moderately priced home sales this month, which is an encouraging sign for newcomers to the market,” added Michael Neal, NAHB senior economist. “Since the end of the Great Recession, inventory has tracked the pace of sales growth. While we expect continued gains in single-family housing production, inventory may be partially constrained by ongoing price increases for lumber and other construction materials.”

For more, visit www.nahb.org. 

This article originally appeared in the August 2018 issue.