Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Home sales edge higher in May - Jun. 25, 2008


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- New home sales in May remained near historically low levels, according to a government report out Wednesday.


The Census Bureau reported that May sales of new one-family homes came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 512,000, down 2.5% from April's revised reading of 525,000.


The reading was higher than the consensus forecast of 510,000, according to estimates compiled by Briefing.com. But home sales are down more than 40% from May of last year.


The report also showed that the median sales price of new homes sold in May was $231,000 while the average sales price was $331,300.


The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of May was 453,000, according to the report. This represents a supply of 10.9 months at the current sales rate.


Wednesday's report follows the release of a closely watched index of home prices on Tuesday that showed a record decline in April.


The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city Home Price Index fell to a record low of 15.3% on a year-over-year basis, and was down 1.4% from March. The 10-city index was down 16.3% year-over-year and 1.6% for the month. 


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[Via Home Mortgage Rates and Real Estate News]


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