June's pace of new-home sales hits three-month low
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Sales of new single-family homes fell 8.1% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 406,000, the slowest pace in three months, with drops across the country, according to government data released Thursday. June's result missed expectations from economists polled by MarketWatch, who had forecast a rate of 475,000, compared with an originally estimated pace of 504,000 for May. On Thursday, the government reported a sizable downward revision for May, estimating a pace of 442,000. New-home sales in June were down 11.5% from a year earlier. The fresh data may add to worries over the housing market's recovery. But it's worth noting that the volatile series undergoes revisions. The confidence interval for June's 8.1% drop is plus or minus 12.3%, signaling that the government isn't sure whether the pace of new-home sales actually rose or fell last month. The median price of new homes in June rose to $273,500, up 5.3% from a year earlier. The supply of new homes on the market rose to 5.8 months at the current sales pace from 5.2 months in May.