New home sales hit a six-month low in May as high mortgage rates continued to weigh on potential buyers.
Sales of new single-family homes fell 11.3% from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted rate of 619,000, according to Census Bureau data released Wednesday. On an annual basis, sales plunged 16.5%.
May's rate was the lowest since November. It also missed analyst expectations of 633,000 units, per Bloomberg data.
Affordability concerns have kept potential buyers from snapping up new homes and prevented sellers, many of whom are locked into lower mortgage rates, from moving. The average weekly rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage still hovers well above 6%, according to Freddie Mac.
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