US New Home Sales down 40% Year on Year

The Spring selling season never really got off the ground as shown from the figures released by the US census bureau yesterday:

NEW RESIDENTIAL SALES IN MAY 2008
Sales of new one-family houses in May 2008 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 512,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 2.5% below the revised April rate of 525,000 and is 40.3% below the May 2007 estimate of 857,000.

Months of supply continues to remain high at 10.9 months.



On the positive side, the number of houses for sale continues to fall, a good sign that inventory is being reduced. However for inventory to really start shifting you need to see a pick-up in sales - something which is unlikely anytime soon.