Slowing Sales Helps Grow Inventory Of New Homes

Sales of newly built single-family homes slowed in May, according to new numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The data shows sales down 13.7 percent from the month before and 6.3 percent lower than last year at the same time. The decline was larger than expected and didn’t meet economists’ expectations for the month. Regionally, results varied. For example, the South saw sales fall 21 percent while in the Northeast they actually increased, soaring 32.1 percent month-over-month. The West and Midwest each saw single-digit declines. But while sales were slow in May, the inventory of unsold new homes was pushed to its highest level in almost two decades. That could be good news for summer home buyers, as builders offer incentives and deals, hoping to sell their current stock of already completed homes to interested home shoppers.