New home sales tank in May
Not surprisingly, just as buyer credits expire, so does the new home market.
Sales of new single-family houses in May 2010 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 300,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
This is 32.7 percent (±9.9%) below the revised April rate of 446,000 and is 18.3 percent (±13.0%) below the May 2009 estimate of 367,000.
The median sales price of new houses sold in May 2010 was $200,900; the average sales price was $263,400. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of May was 213,000. This represents a supply of 8.5 months at the current sales rate.
While hardly a shock to many industry observers, this news is nonetheless a gut punch to the still wobbly housing market.
