By Rex Nutting
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Sales of new homes plunged a record 33% in May to a record-low level after a federal subsidy for home buyers expired, according to data released Wednesday by the Commerce Department. Sales dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 300,000, the lowest since records begin in 1963. The results were much worse than the the 20% decline expected. Sales fell sharply in all four regions, with sales down more than 50% in the West. Home builders reduced their inventories of unsold homes by 0.5% to 213,000, the lowest level in 39 years. The median sales price in May was $200,900, down 9.6% from a year earlier and the lowest since December 2003.
