Sales of new U.S. single-family homes increased more than expected in May as sales in the South surged to their highest level in nearly 11 years.
The Commerce Department said on Monday new home sales jumped 6.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 689,000 units last month, the highest level since November 2017. April’s sales pace was revised down to 646,000 units from the previously reported 662,000 units.
Last month’s surge in new home sales unwound April’s drop. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast new home sales, which make up 11 percent of housing market sales, rising only 0.7 percent to a pace of 667,000 units in May.
Sales in the South, which accounts for the bulk of transactions, rebounded 17.9 percent to a rate of 409,000 units in May, the highest level since July 2007. The increase ended two straight months of declines.
