New home sales in May reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 546,000 units, an increase of 2.2% compared to the revised April rate of 534,000 units and 19.5% above the May 2014 estimate of 457,000 units, according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The median sales price of a new home sold in May was $282,800; the average sales price was $337,000.
As of the end of May there were about 206,000 new homes for sale in the U.S. – about a 4.5-month supply at the current sales pace.
Driving the increase was a whopping 87% increase in new home sales in the Northeast. New home sales were up 13.1% in the West but were down 5.7% in the Midwest and were down 4.3% in the South.
Although housing starts fell 11.1% in April compared to March, overall permit issuance rose 11.8% to a rate of 1.275 million, the highest level since August 2007. That means there will likely be an increase in the number of new units under construction in May and June, thus bringing more much-needed inventory to the market.