US new home sales jump past forecasts in May

In seasonally adjusted terms, sales of new homes jumped at a month-on-month clip of 12.2% to reach 763,000.

Economists had forecast an annual rate of 659,000.

The previous estimate for April's annual rate was revised down by only 3,000 to 580,000.

Sales rose in all four main geographical regions.

The median sales price bounced back from $402,400 in April to $416,300 for May, but the average price slipped from $495,600 to $487,300.

The supply of new homes available for sale meanwhile edged up from 6.7 months' worth of sales to 7.0.

-- More to follow --