The following is the unedited transcript of the news release from the U.S. Department of Commerce.


Sales of new one-family houses in May 2008 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 512,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 2.5 percent (±13.7%)* below the revised April rate of 525,000 and is 40.3 percent (±6.9%) below the May 2007 estimate of 857,000.

The median sales price of new houses sold in May 2008 was $231,000; the average sales price was $311,300. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of May was 453,000. This represents a supply of 10.9 months at the current sales rate.


Available at:

http://www.census.gov/const/newressales.pdf