Record Low Rates Drive Refis, But No Sales

New-home sales fell unexpectedly in June, tumbling 8.4%, after sales in May hit the highest level in two years, according to the Census Bureau’s latest snapshot on the housing market.The disappointing drop in sales was partially due to an upward revision in the May figures by 23,000 units.

The Census Bureau reported Wednesday morning (Aug 2012??) that sales of newly built single-family homes fell to a 350,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in June from a 382,000 rate May.

The April sales rate was revised upward by 15,000 units.Despite the drop in June, new-home sales rose 15% compared to June 2011.Wall Street analysts were forecasting that new-home sales would edge up 1% or less from May to June.After strong sales in the winter and spring, forecasters pared back expectations following a National Association of Realtors report last week which found existing-home sales fell 5.4% in June.In trading Wednesday several homebuilding firms saw their stock prices decline. KB Home was down 3% with Ryland Homes and D.R. Horton falling by 2% each.

This is a report from publicly available data sources and information provided to the SEC.