New home sales in the US fell in May from a maximum of more than eight years amid weakness in the three regions, but in general the housing market remains unchanged.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that new home sales fell by 6.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of up to 551,000 units. The April sales pace was revised downwards to 586 000 units from the previously reported 619,000 units, it is still the highest since February 2008.

Economists had forecast that sales of new buildings, which accounted for about 9.1 percent of the housing market to fall to 560 000 units in the last month.

Sales rose by 8.7 percent compared to the previous year. Sales of new single-family homes are extremely volatile month-to-month and preliminary results are subject to significant revisions.