Washington, DC, July 27--Sales of new homes fell only slightly in June from the record sales pace set last month, the Commerce Department estimated Tuesday.
Sales of new homes fell 0.8 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1.33 million.
The decline was not as sharp as expected. Economists surveyed by CBS MarketWatch were expecting a sales rate of about 1.27 million in June.
The government revised lower the estimated sales in May but it was still an all-time high.
Sales in May rose a revised 11.7 percent to 1.34 million units, compared with the initial estimate of a 14.8 percent rise to 1.37 million units.
Economists attribute some of the strength in new home sales to "fence-sitters" who are entering the market as interest rates rise out of concern that they would unable to afford a home if rates rise further.
The number of new homes for sale on the market fell about 0.5 percent to 374,000, representing 3.4-months of sales at the June pace.
New-home sales fell in every region but the South, where sales rose about 9.6 percent to a record 696,000.
Sales fell about 14.2 percent in the Northeast to 91,000. Sales in the West fell about 13.1 percent to 338,000 and sales fell about 2.9 percent to 201,000 in the Midwest.
The monthly figures are subject to revisions and to large sampling and other statistical errors. The government cautions that it can take five months for a trend in home sales to be established.
The median sales price rose 11.7 percent year-over-year to $209,900.
