Data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development indicated the sale of new homes in May increased by more than 12 percent from April. This marks the third-straight month of increases in new homes sales.
Sales of new single‐family houses in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 763,000 according to estimates released jointly by the two agencies. The estimate was 12.2 percent above the revised April number of 680,000 and was 20 percent above the May 2022 estimate of 636,000.
Sales increased in May from April in all four U.S. regions, led by a 17.6 percent increase in the Northeast. Sales also rose in the West (17.4 percent), South (11.3 percent), and Midwest (4.1 percent).
The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of May was 428,000, representing a supply of 6.7 months at the current sales rate.
The median sales price of new houses sold in May was $416,300. The average sales price for May was $487,300.
“Purchase activity for newly built homes was strong in May, with builders continuing to bring homes to the market and buyers keen to act on available units,” said Joel Kan, Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “Applications for purchase loans were up on a monthly basis and increased annually for the fourth consecutive month. Our estimate of new home sales also jumped in May, up 16 percent to the fastest pace of new home sales in 15 months.”
Data from MBA also found new home mortgage applications increased by 8 percent in May from April.