Doug Carroll, USA TODAY4:03 p.m. EDT July 24, 2014
Sales of new single-family homes fell 8.1% in June, and May’s previously reported surge was slashed by a record revision.
Paired with June’s slippage, newly updated sales figures for March, April and May show the industry’s spring performance was weaker than previously estimated, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.
June sales hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 406,000, the second-weakest pace of the year, Census said. May’s level was cut to 442,000 from the 504,000 annual pace Census reported a month ago.
Instead of rising nearly 19% from April, May’s sales were only up about 8%. The magnitude of the change was a single-month record for new-home sales data, according to Census records on revisions that date to 1996.
Economists were bracing for lower June sales, but they anticipated an annual sales rate of 480,000, based on the median forecast in Action Economics’ survey.
Click Here To Submit A News Tip Or Story