New Home Sales Slip Again

By Newsroom America Staff at 25 Jul 2012

(Newsroom America) -- Sales of new homes in the U.S. fell dramatically in June, despite a new optimism in a housing recovery, most especially among builders themselves.

Signed contracts for new homes plunged 8.4 percent from May, according to U.S. Commerce Department figures. That said, sales of new homes are still up 15 percent from this time last year, CNBC.com reported.

Sales are now at their lowest level since January, the report said, adding that sales of existing homes also fell, despite analysts' predictions the latter sector would gain last month.

The region with the largest drop was the Northeast, where new-home sales dipped nearly 60 percent month-to-month. That said, the Northeast also represents the smallest sample, so that figure can be volatile.

"With new home sales at current levels 75 percent below peak and with a run rate near 50+ year lows, new home construction has bottomed, but there is still a long bridge between a bottom and a robust recovery, as existing home inventories (shadow and otherwise) remain elevated," Peter Boockvar, an analyst at Miller Tabak, wrote.

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