New home sales came in at an annualized rate of 319,000 units from an upwardly revised 326,000 in April. That’s a smaller decline than economists expected.
New home inventory fell to 6.2 months’ supply from 6.3 months in April. Prices rose a bit from April, but were down 3.4% from a year ago.
All in all, not quite as horrible as you might expect, but still awfully low.
This news may have helped lift stocks a little bit. The Dow is now down 183 points, compared with 200 before the release. So, yeah, not much of a lift, really.
But this is the second bit of helpful news for the homebuilders. Lennar this morning reported better-than-expected earnings, and its shares are up more than 2%. Other major homebuilders are also up a little less.
