REAL ESTATE: New home sales nationwide fell 8.4 percent in June over May; up 15 percent year-over-year

Sales of new single-family homes across the U.S. in June were 8.4 percent below that of May when contracts were signed on 382,000 homes, a joint report issued Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said.

National numbers for the year were 15 percent higher than the July 2011 estimate that 304,000 new homes would be sold. Across the country, there were 350,000 new home sales. What was the second quarter picture look like in the Inland Empire?

Metrostudy director Steve Johnson said the Inland Empire’s new home construction scene quantitatively looks flat, especially when stacked against the San Diego County economy that is showing signs the housing market has turned the corner.

The Inland area is at the “very-early stages of a market correction,’’ he said.

New construction housing starts in the Inland areas for the three month period ending in June totaled 1,031, a gain of 68 percent from the first three months of the year.

Still, those numbers are tracking slightly below the pace recorded in the second quarter of 2011 with 1,023 housing starts.

The 969 new home closings in the Inland Empire from April through June are up 22 percent over the same period in 2011, Metrostudy said, and were up 23 percent from the first part of the year.

However, the rolling six month average on closings totaled 3,526 through June, a decline of 15 percent compared to the 4,141 new homes closed in year ending June 2011. The annual starts rate of 3,248 reflect a decrease of 2 percent, the Metrostudy report said.

Source: http://www.pe.com/business/business-insider-headlines/20120725-real-estate-new-home-sales-nationwide-fell-8.4-percent-in-june-over-may-up-15-percent-year-over-year.ece