New home sales jump 7.6% in May

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The housing market got some good news on Monday, as the government reported that sales of new homes rose 7.6% in May.

Sales hit an annual rate of 369,000, according to the Census Bureau, compared with the revised April rate of 343,000. That's up 20% year-over-year, but still a long way from the annual rate of nearly 1.4 million recorded during real estate's boom years.

The sales hike beat expectations. Economists had forecast a sales rate of 350,000 new homes, according to Briefing.com.

The uptick in home sales was in line with other recent positive reports in the housing market. In May, home builders applied for permits to build new homes at the highest rate since September 2008, and mortgage rates hit record lows last week.


http://money.cnn.com/2012/06/25/real_estate/home-sales/index.htm?source=cnn_bin