The median price of a newly built home ticked up to $345,800 in May, the highest price ever, and an 16.8 percent rise from the same time last year.
But, total sales increased to 610,000, a 8.9 percent jump from May 2016, according to Realtor.com.
Since they are dealing with money-sucking measures including higher land and material costs, and a lack of construction workers, builders have turned their focus to the upper end of the spectrum. Of the sales in May, only 22,000 were of homes were priced at $299,999 or less.
New homes were nearly 36.8% pricier than existing ones (i.e., homes that have been previously lived in) in May. The median price of an existing home reached an all-time high of $252,800 in May, according to the most recent National Association of Realtors report.
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