The really bad news, though, is that the revised May estimate dropped 62,000 sales from the original estimate of 504,000. That is about 19% below the original Census Bureau estimate and a three-month low. Economists had been expecting a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 475,000 for June.
The June rate is 11.5% below the rate for June 2013. At the peak in 2005, new home sales posted a seasonally adjusted annual rate of nearly 1.4 million.
The Census Bureau also reported that the median sales price for new homes sold in June was $273,500 and the average sales price was $331,400. The median price fell $8,500 month-over-month and the average price rose by $12,380. At the end of June, the number of new homes for sale rose from a May total of 189,000 to 197,000, a supply of 5.8 months at the current sales rate.
In June, 60% of sales were of homes priced at less than $300,000, but the percentage of homes sold in the $200,000 to $299,999 price range rose from 30% in May to 36%, which helps explain the share rise in the average sales price during the month. The dip in the median price is likely due to a drop in the percentage of sales priced between $300,000 and $399,999 from 21% of all sales to 15%.
ALSO READ: June Sales of Existing Homes Reach 8-Month High
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