WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Sales of new homes in the United States were essentially unchanged near record-low levels in May as home builders continued to slash their inventories of unsold homes, the Commerce Department estimated Wednesday. Sales dropped 0.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 342,000 in May from a revised 344,000 in April. The report was weaker than the 363,000 pace expected. Inventories of unsold homes fell 2.3% in May to 292,000. Once a home is completed, it is taking a record 11.5 months to sell it. The median sales prices fell 3.4% compared with a year earlier.
