US May new home sales fall 1.6 pct to 915,000 annual rate |
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Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:22
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WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - US new home sales fell 1.6 pct in May to a 915,000 unit annual rate, the Commerce Department said today.The sales numbers didn't meet analysts' expectations for a 920,000 annual rate, nor did they illustrate the whole story.Commerce also cut 51,000 homes from the originally reported April sales rate, revising it down to 930,000.The revision left April sales up 12.5 pct, which was the largest since a 12.6 pct rise in September of 1993. Economists were looking for some retracement of that unusual jump in sales.The May median new home sales price was 236,100 usd, down 0.9 pct from May of 2006.Inventories of unsold homes rose 1.4 pct last month to a 7.1 months' supply of 536,000 units.Analysts and builders have been saying that the increase in mortgage rates in the past month will further discourage buyers and make the glut of new homes even harder to sell.dennis.moore@thomson.comdem/wash/ejpCOPYRIGHTCopyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.
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Home sales rate fell 6.6 percent in 1Q 