New home sales increased at their quickest rate in more than two years in May.
Sales of new singe-family homes for the month of May, according to new data from the Census Bureau, rose 19.8 percent year-over-year to a two-year high.
The 369,000 seasonally-adjusted annual rate was also 7.6 percent above April’s rate of 343,000.
Other data from the Census Bureau included:
- Median sale price for new houses was $234,500 in May.
- Average sale price for the same month was $237,900.
- With 145,000 new homes for sale at the end of May, the supply is just 4.7 months.
Lisa Connell, the marketing director for J. Patrick Homes, said that the new home market has been performing quite well in 2012.
“In 2012, we started out pretty strong,” she said. “We’ve seen a lot more interest from buyers.”
J. Patrick has 12 communities throughout the Houston area, and Connell said that interest has been particularly pronounced in their Woodlands development, where buyers have been flocking in anticipation of Exxon Mobil’s move to a new, 385-acre corporate campus.
Connell said demand for new homes has still been strong outside of The Woodlands, and she’s seen greater activity on units in higher price points, a likely effect of Houston’s strong local economy.
“We feel like its just going to continue on, and maybe even improve,” Connell said for the rest of 2012.