2018.07.2510:22:00UTC+00U.S. New Home Sales Slump More Than Expected In June

A report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed a bigger than expected drop in new home sales in the U.S. in the month of June.

The report said new home sales plunged by 5.3 percent to an annual rate of 631,000 in June after jumping by 3.9 percent to a rate of 666,000 in May. Economists had expected new home sales to fall by 2.8 percent.

The bigger than expected decrease in new home sales came as sales in the Mid-west plummeted by 13.4 percent to a rate of 71,000.

New home sales in the South and West also tumbled by 7.7 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively, while new home sales in the Northeast spiked by 36.8 percent.

The Commerce Department also said the median sales price of new houses sold in June was $302,100, down 4.2 percent from $315,200 in the same month a year ago.

The estimate of new houses for sale at the end of June was 301,000, representing a supply of 5.7 months at the current sales rate.

On Monday, the National Association of Realtors released a separate report showing existing home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased for the third straight month in June.

NAR said existing home sales fell by 0.6 percent to an annual rate of 5.36 million in June from a downwardly revised rate of 5.41 million in May. Economists had expected existing home sales to climb by 0.5 percent.