Existing home sales rebounded to a stronger than expected 5.62 million annual rate in May, which is a +1.1% increase from a downwardly revised 5.56 million (-2.5%) annual rate in April. Total existing inventory of homes for sale rose to 1.96 million (+2.1%), but that is down from 2.14 million one year previously, and inventories have been falling for 24 consecutive months. Yearly gains in home prices have increased for the last 63 consecutive months, with a +5.8% increase over the last year.

The annual sales rate for new homes also recorded a larger than expected gain for May to 610,000. This is a +8.9% Y/Y increase, and a +2.9% increase from April, which was itself upwardly revised from 569,000 to a 593,000 annual rate. The median sales price rose from $310,200 in April to $345,800 in May (+11.5%), with a +16.8% Y/Y increase from May 2016’s $296,000 median. Sales rates were highest in the South (360,000, +6.2%) and the West (162,000, +13.3%), and fell in the Northeast (33,000, -10.8%) and Midwest (55,000, -25.7%).

For June, Markit’s Flash US PMI indicated slowing but continued growth, with the Composite and Services indexes both falling to 3 month lows of 53.0, and the Manufacturing and Manufacturing Output indexes falling to 9 month lows of 52.1 and 52.9, respectively. Respondents in the Service sector indicated a rise in new orders, increases in hiring, and a rise in input costs that were reflected in solid increases in output prices. In Manufacturing, respondents indicated slowdowns in both business growth and input price inflation, which were partially offset by job creation and inventory building. Markit’s analysis found business optimism for the year ahead, resilient hiring, improved pricing power, and healthy demand.