Sales of new single-family homes plunged by more than 11 percent in May, a signal of how elevated mortgage rates and expensive prices are depressing activity in the housing market during what should be its busiest time of the year.Last month, sales of homes came in at 619,000, according to data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Census Bureau. This was down from April's sale of 698,000. Compared to May 2023, sales were down by 16.
The average sale price was up to $520,000, about $16,000 higher than where it was in April.One silver lining in the latest data came from the revisions that came in for February through April. They averaged 32,000 more sales per month than initially thought, a 5 percent jump. Meanwhile, for buyers, there were more homes available on the market, said Bill Adams, the chief economist at Comerica Bank.'With fewer sales and more houses for sale, listings were equivalent to 9.