Highlights
Most economists and analysts expected some volatility for home sales after the contract deadline for special tax credits. That came true with May's record plunge and continued in June-but at least in the right direction. New home sales in June rebounded 23.6 percent after plunging a revised 36.7 percent in May. The June pace recovered to an annualized 330,000 from a revised 267,000 for May and revised 422,000 for April While the comeback is welcome, the bad news is that May's record drop was revised down notably from the initial estimate of a 33.0 percent decline. The latest figure is down 16.7 percent on a year-ago basis.

Monthly supply has seen sharp movement in recent months as that ratio is moved more by sales than by the number of homes on the market. Supply on the market eased somewhat to 7.6 months after surging to 9.6 in May. April had been pushed down to 6.1 months' supply as sales bumped up to meet the signing deadline for tax credits. The median home price slipped 1.4 percent to $213,400. Year-on-year, the median price in June is down 0.6 percent.

The bottom line is that the housing market is not in free fall. Nonetheless, sales are still very soft. The rebound was given a sizeable percent in the latest month largely because of the low baseline number in May.

Market Consensus Before Announcement
New home sales plunged 33.3 percent in May to an annual rate of 300,000, the lowest rate on the books in data going back to 1963. The latest pace compares to an April peak of 446,000 units. Months' supply on the market, due to the drop in sales, surged to 8.5 months from April's 5.8 months. But the actual number of new homes on the market, down 1,000 in the month to an adjusted 213,000, is the lowest since 1970. The median price for new homes sold fell a monthly 1.0 percent to a $200,900-with the year-ago pace at down 9.6 percent.

2010 Release Schedule

Released On: 1/27 2/24 3/24 4/23 5/26 6/23 7/26 8/25 9/24 10/27 11/24 12/23 Released For: Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov