The following is the unedited transcript of the news release from the U.S. Department of Commerce.



Sales of new one-family houses in May 2006 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,234,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.


This is 4.6% above the revised April rate of 1,180,000, but is 5.9% below the May 2005 estimate of 1,311,000.


The median sales price of new houses sold in May 2006 was $235,300; the average sales price was $294,300.


The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of May was 556,000. This represents a supply of 5.5 months at the current sales rate.




Available at:

http://www.census.gov/const/newressales.pdf