New Home Sales Fall in June as Supply-Chain Challenges Remain
Sales of newly built, single-family homes fell 6.6 percent in June to a 676,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate, according to newly released data by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. The June number follows downward revisions to the May estimate and marks the lowest rate since April 2020. Despite the recent cooling trend, new home sales are up 13.5 percent on a year-to-date basis.
"Sales continued to trend lower in June as some builders slow sales contracts to manage supply-chains, amidst longer delivery times and higher construction costs," said Chuck Fowke, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). "While lumber prices have shown some improvement in spot markets, these declines take time to translate into lower construction costs. Moreover, other items like OSB remain elevated."