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WASHINGTON, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Sales of U.S. new homes fell in May after a jump in April, as the U.S. housing market kept as a bright spot in the economy.
The sales of new single-family houses in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 551,000, 6 percent below the revised April rate, but 8.7 percent above the same period last year the Commerce Department said Thursday.
The April rate was revised down to 586,000, still the highest level since February 2008
The median sales price of new houses stood at 290,400 U.S. dollars in the month. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of May was 244,000 units, which represented a supply of 5.3 months at the current sales rate.
Existing home sales, the major part of the U.S. housing market, rose in May to their highest pace in almost a decade, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.53 million, said the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Wednesday.
The NAR expected existing home sales would probably maintain their current fast pace through the summer if the job market kept growing. Enditem
