Sales of new one-family houses in May 2009 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 342,000, 0.6 percent below the revised April rate of 344,000, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The performance is 32.8 percent below the May 2008 estimate of 509,000.
"Today's report provides further evidence that the recovery is going to be a slow one as the housing market continues to bump along, trying to find a bottom," added NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "The good news is that, even as the sales pace leveled in May, inventories of unsold new homes continued to shrink for a 25th consecutive month - a trend that is helping bring supply and demand into better alignment and thereby setting the stage for an eventual market recovery."
The median sales price of new houses sold in May 2009 was $221,600; the average sales price was $274,300. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of May was 292,000. This represents a supply of 10.2 months at the current sales rate.
The number of new homes for sale fell 2.3 percent to 292,000, which is a 10.2-month supply at the current sales pace.
Regionally, the decline in new-home sales was entirely focused on the South, where sales fell 8.5 percent for the month. Meanwhile, sales of new homes gained 1.3 percent in the West and posted double-digit gains of 28.6 percent and 18.6 percent in the Northeast and Midwest, respectively.
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