MNI DATA ANALYSIS: US June Home Sales -5.3% To 631k SAAR>

--Headline Decrease Led By 13.4% Decline in Midwest

--June Homes Supply Up 1.7%; Months Supply Rises To 5.7 Months

By Kevin Kastner, Shikha Dave, and Harrison Clarke

     WASHINGTON (MNI) - New single-family home sales fell by 5.3% to a 

631,000 annual rate in June, led by a fall in sales in the Midwest 

region, data released by the Commerce Department Wednesday showed. 

     The new home sales pace, which was the slowest since October, was 

below the 669,000 rate expected, based on an MNI survey of economists, 

and followed downward revisions to the previous two months. As a result,

market participants are likely to see the data as a pause after recent 

gains.

     The sales pace remains well above its year ago level, up 6.9% 

unadjusted from June 2017. 

     New homes sales in May were revised down to a 666,000 pace from 

the 689,000 previously announced rate. The April pace was revised down 

to 641,000 from 646,000. 

     When those revisions are incorporated, the second quarter sales 

pace averaged 646,000, down from 656,000 in the first quarter. 

     When broken down regionally, the decline in June headline sales was 

due to a 13.4% decline in the Midwest region. In addition, sales in the 

South declined 7.7% after hitting an 11-year high in the previous month. 

There was a gain in the Northeast (+36.8%) region, but a decline in the 

West (-5.2%). 

--HOME SUPPLY WELL ABOVE YEAR-AGO

     The supply of new homes for sale rose by 1.7% in the month to a 

level of 301,000. The current level of supply is 10.3% higher than a 

year earlier, suggesting that supply is adequate to meet demand. 

     Based on the movements in sales and supply in June, the months' 

supply rose to 5.7 months from the May months' supply of 5.3 months. 

The June months' supply was also up from the June 2017 level of 5.3 

months. 

     Supply of new homes remains fairly high relative to sales, 

as opposed to the very tight supply of existing homes available for 

sale. 

--MEDIAN SALES PRICE FALLS IN JUNE

     The median sales price fell by 2.5% to $302,100 from $309,700 in 

May. The June median price stands 4.2% below the $315,200 level in June 

2017, suggesting that new home prices show less forward momentum than 

the record median sales price posted for June existing homes. 

     ** MNI Washington Bureau (202) 371-2121 ** 

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