Source: Scotsman Guide —
Friday’s new residential sales report from the U.S. Census Bureau brought some surprising good news, as new single-family home sales jumped 10.7% monthly to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 696,000 units in May.
The gain was very much an unexpected development, with economists surveyed by Reuters projecting that new-home sales would fall to a 588,000-unit pace. Year over year, sales still slid 5.9%, but April’s sales pace also saw a bump, receiving an upward revision to 629,000 units from the previously reported 591,000.
Wells Fargo economist Mark Vitner said that the bank’s researchers went against the grain in predicting the now-realized sales increase.
