Those numbers might be off.
WASHINGTON, May 23 (Reuters) - Sales of new U.S. single-family homes jumped to a 13-month high in April, boosted by a persistent shortage of previously owned houses on the market and a sharp decline in prices from last year’s lofty levels.
The report from the Commerce Department on Tuesday followed on the heels of data last week showing a surge in permits for future single-family housing construction. With confidence among homebuilders rising to a 10-month high in May, there are no signs yet that a recent tightening in credit conditions are weighing on the housing market, the sector hardest hit by the Federal Reserve’s fastest interest rate hiking cycle since the 1980s.
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“The evidence continues to accumulate that the housing market may have largely adjusted to the higher level of mortgage rates but the decline in the median home price is consistent with the hypothesis that home builders may be tailoring the construction of new homes towards first-time buyers,” said Conrad DeQuadros, senior economic advisor at Brean Capital in New York.
New home sales increased 4.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 683,000 units last month, the highest level since March 2022. March’s sales pace was revised lower to 656,000 units from the previously reported 683,000.
Sorry...they could BOTH be right....Existing home sales dow, new home sales up.