Sales of newly constructed single-family homes spiked 11% in June to an annualized rate of 384,000 homes, according to a report released Monday. The gain over May was much greater than expected. A consensus of housing industry analysts had forecast seasonally adjusted sales of 352,000, according to Breifing.com. However, sales are still 21% below the levels of a year ago, when new homes sold in June at an annualized rate of 488,000, according to the report released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Four years ago, during the height of the housing boom, the sales rate for June was 1,374,000, nearly three-and-a-half times higher than last month.
In June, they began building single-family housing units at an annualized rate of 470,000, a 14.4% jump over May. The median price paid for a house sold in June 2009 was down about 3% to $206,200; the mean price was $276,900. By the end of the month, the inventory of new homes had dropped to 281,000, an 8.8-month supply at current rates of sale. Last month, there were enough homes on the market to last 10.2 months at that rate.
Source: CNNMoney.com, Commerce Dept. |