May new-home sales down

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Sales of new homes in the U.S. were down sharply in May from levels of a year ago and also dipped below April’s total, the Census Bureau reported today.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of new-home sales was down 0.6% from April and fell 32.8% from May 2008 amid a housing glut. New-home sales in the West, however, were up slightly from April, by 1.3% over the previous month’s adjusted annual rate.

From April to May, new-home sales actually increased in all regions of the U.S. except the South, where they fell by 8.5%, the Census Bureau reported. But because the volume of new-home sales in May was much greater than in other parts of the country, that region’s sales decline dragged the national total into negative territory.

Compared with a year ago, however, May new-home sales were down by double-digit percentages in every region of the U.S.

The median sale price for a new home in May was $221,600, down 3.4% from a year ago.

For what it’s worth, I am seeing more people visiting the sales offices around Southern California than there were this time last year, at new-home developments. A few -- very few -- projects say they’re raising prices a bit (though they may be raising prices and offsetting them with rebates and upgrade credits).

-- Peter Y. Hong