The seasonally adjusted pace of new single-family home sales in the U.S. jumped over 12 percent from April (680,000) to May (763,000) and was 20 percent higher than at the same time last year and nearly 30 percent higher than in May of 2019, prior to the pandemic having hit. And for the first time in two years, inventory levels were lower than at the same time last year, albeit by only a couple (2.3) percent having inched down less than a percent from April to May.
All that being said, the median sale price last month ($416,300) was 7.6 percent lower than at the same time last year and the average sale price ($487,300) was 6.6 percent lower having ticked down 5.6 percent over the past couple of months, driven by discounting to move the inventory of new homes which had hit a 15-year high last year.