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Lifestyle Under The Sun - South Florida Lifestyle and Real Estate Guide Lifestyle Under The Sun - South Florida Lifestyle and Real Estate Guide - New Home Sales in U.S. Unexpectedly Rise in May

Newsflash

ORLANDO, Fla. – April 22, 2008 – Florida Realtors® statewide reported slight gains in existing home and condominium sales from February to March 2008, according to the latest housing statistics released by the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR). A total of 9,142 existing single-family homes changed hands in March, a 10 percent increase over the previous month when 8,310 homes sold. Existing condo sales statewide rose 13.7 percent, with 3,145 units sold in March compared with 2,765 condos in February.

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New Home Sales in U.S. Unexpectedly Rise in May

June 26 (Bloomberg) -- Sales of new homes in the U.S. unexpectedly rose in May to the highest level this year as buyers found deals in a market bloated with unsold homes. Purchases increased 4.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.234 million from 1.180 million in April, the Commerce Department said today.

There were 556,000 homes for sale at the end of May, compared with a record 560,000 the prior month. Builders are offering incentives such as free country club memberships and luxury car leases to lure buyers put off by rising mortgage rates. The gain in sales confirms the Federal Reserve's forecast that the slowdown in housing won't be abrupt and may prompt policy makers to continue their series of interest-rate increases beyond this month.

"We are surprised at the resilience of home sales over the last three months, and these data suggest that any near-term economic slowing from the housing market is likely to be fairly limited,'' said John Ryding, chief U.S. economist at Bear Stearns & Co. in New York.