The U.S. Commerce Department announced on Monday that the sales of new single-family homes tumbled 6.6 percent m-o-m to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 676,000 units in June. This was the lowest reading since April 2020.

Economists had forecast the sales pace of 800,000 last month.

May’s sales pace was revised down to 724,000 units from the originally reported 769,000 units.

According to the report, new home sales in the South, the largest area, fell 7.8 percent m-o-m in June. In the meantime, new home sales in the Northeast plunged 27.9 percent m-o-m and those in the West dropped 5.1 percent m-o-m. In the Midwest, however, new home sales rose 5.7 percent m-o-m.

The report also showed that median sales price increased 6.1 percent y-o-y to $361,800, while the average sales price surged 12.2 percent y-o-y to $428,700.

In y-o-y terms, new home sales were down 19.4 percent in June.