However, sales of previously occupied homes plummeted in May in the United States from the same period in 2022 and the national median price registered its biggest annual drop in more than a decade, while a supply of available properties – close to being the lowest historically—restricted the market.
Sales fell 20.4% compared to May last year. That marks 10 straight months of annual sales declines of 20% or more. The annual decline was most pronounced in the western and northeastern markets of the country, where sales fell more than 25%.
The national median home price fell 3.1% from May of last year to $396,100, the NAR said. The year-over-year drop is the biggest since December 2011, when the housing market was still recovering from the housing crisis of the mid-2000s.
In May, 763,000 new homes were purchased in an annual projection (the total volume projected for one year if conditions were maintained at the time of measurement).
The data is better than expected by the market, which was aiming for 665,000 units, according to the Briefing.com consensus.
This is a significant increase in the sale of new housesof 12.2% in relation to April.
In the year-on-year comparison, compared to May 2022, the rise is close to 20%.
“New home sales reached their highest level since February 2022,” Rubeela Farooqi, chief economist at HFE, said in a note.
“Higher mortgage rates have been a deterrent to buyers, but borrowing costs are coming down from their peak” and the stock of available homes remains weak.
Median new home prices dipped slightly, to $416,300 from $420,800 in May, a low since December 2021, with enough stock for 6.7 months at current sales rates.
Meanwhile, the average purchase price also fell to $428,000, a year-to-date low.
FUENTE: With information from AFP and AP
