US: New home sales increase by 6.7% in May vs. 1.5% expected

"Sales of new single-family houses in May 2018 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 689,000," the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and
Urban Development jointly announced on Monday.

Key quotes from the official publication

• This is 6.7 percent above the revised April rate of 646,000 and is 14.1 percent above the May 2017 estimate of 604,000.
• The median sales price of new houses sold in May 2018 was $313,000.
• The average sales price was $368,500.
• The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of May was 299,000. This represents a supply of 5.2 months at the current sales rate.