Sales of newly constructed homes posted a gain in June, rising 3.5 percent from the May estimate.  The Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development put new home sales for the month at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 592,000 units compared to sales in May which were revised upward to 572,000 from 551,000 units.  The June rate was 25.4 percent higher than seasonally adjusted sales a year earlier of 472,000.

The sales report bested by a wide margin the consensus of analysts polled by Econoday of 562,000 units.  Opinions ranged from 540,000 to 571,000.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis there were 54,000 new homes sold during the month, the same number as in May.  Sales in June of last year totaled 44,000.

New home sales dipped in the Northeast by 5.6 percent for the month but remained 30.8 percent higher than sales a year earlier.  Sales in the Midwest were up 10.4 percent compared to May and were 44.1 percent than in June 2015.  The South also saw slightly lower sales than a month earlier, down 0.3 percent, but they were still 21.1 percent above those the previous June.  Sales in the West were 10.9 percent and 24.6 percent above those for the two earlier periods.

At the end of the reporting period there were an estimated 244,000 new homes available for sale, a 4.9-month supply at the current sales pace and a decrease of 3.9 percent from the inventory in May.  Houses sold during the month were on the market a median of 3.8 months.  Of the 54,000 homes sold, 18,000 were purchased before construction was started and 17,000 sold after they were completed.

The median price of a new home sold during the month was $306,700 compared to $289,200 in June 2015.  The average price was $358,200 compared to $329,300 a year earlier.