New Home Sales See Increase in June

New home sales increased an estimated 7% in June from a month prior, despite a June decline in existing homes sales, Realtor.com reports.

Purchases of newly built single-family homes increased 7% from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 646,000 in June, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. The increase follows two straight months of declines. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal has expected a sales pace of 659,000.

The number of homes for sale in June would last 6.3 months at the current pace. That’s up from 6 months a year earlier. The median sales price of a new home in June was $310,400, roughly the same as a year ago, when the median sales price was $310,500. From a year ago, new home sales were up 4.5%.

Sales data can be volatile and subject to revisions. The June increase came with a margin of error of plus or minus 15.2 percentage points. Sales in May were revised down to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 604,000 from an initial estimate of 626,000.

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