New home sales in June rose to a seasonally adjusted rate of 497,000 units an increase of 8.3 percent compared to sales in May. The June figure was an increase of 38.1 percent from June 2012 when the rate of new home sales was estimated at 360,000 units. The US Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development also reported a downward revision of the May sales rate from 476,000 to 459,000 units. With a ±20.5 percent margin of error, revisions aren't out of the question for the current report as well.

The median sales price of homes in June was $249,700 compared to $232,600 in June 2012, but down from last month's $262,800. The average sales price of a home during June was $295,000, up from $271,800 a year earlier. Sales of homes in the $200,000 to 299,000 price range comprised 32 percent of total sales in June; 33 percent of sales were priced below that range

The inventory of homes for sale at the end of the period consisted of 161,000 units, up from 159,000 in May. Due to the increased rate of sales the inventory was down from a 4.2 month supply in May to 3.9 months in June Of the 161,000 homes available for sale, 93,000 are in some stage of construction; 36,000 are ready for occupancy

The pace of new home sales rose 18.5 percent in the Northeast on a month-over-month basis in June and were up 100 percent from one year earlier. Sales in the Midwest dropped 11.8 percent from May but were up 36.7 percent year-over-year. The South saw sales increase 10.9 percent and 46.3 percent for the month and year respectively and in the West the increases were 13.8 percent and 14.8 percent.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis there were 48,000 new homes sold in June compared to 43,000 in May. More than half of the sales, 26,000 were in the South; 12,000 were in the West, 7,000 in the Midwest and 2,000 in the Northeast.