New Home Sales Expected To Show Continued Strength

New Home Sales for May are due out at 10:00 a.m. ET, with Bloomberg consensus estimates pointing to a rise of 1.6 percent in May to an annual rate of 525,000 units. Estimates range from 505,000 to 540,000. New home sales measure the number of newly constructed homes with a committed sale during the month. The expected increase to 525,000 units would mark the second-highest level since April 2008, just before the start of the Great Recession. This also follows a very strong April report, which showed a gain of 26 percent from a year ago to a 517,000 annualized pace. The median number of months to find a buyer of new homes remains near historic lows, according to the National Association of Realtors. For the year as a whole, new home sales are projected to rise by about 30 percent in 2015 and then another 20 to 25 percent in 2016. The median price in April was $297,300, which was 8.3 percent above last year's price. With permit data showing continued strength in May, today's New Home Sales number may point to continued strong expansion in the housing sector. Credit Suisse analyst Dana Saporta looks for "housing to spur a fortuitous cycle that should eventually transform housing headwinds into tailwinds for US economic growth."