New home sales for April:

  • Prior was 511K (revised to 531K)
  • +16.6% m/m vs +2.3% m/m expected
  • Supply at 4.7 months vs 5.5 prior
  • Northeast +52.8%, Midwest -4.8%, South +15.8%, West +18.8%
  • Single family homes +16.6%
  • Median sale price +9.7% y/y

That's a huge beat. Generally when a number is that far out of line it's some kind of seasonal skew.

But even such a seemingly big number is nowhere close to the hayday of home building.

Fed members are closely watching economic data at the moment but even with such a strong reading this one is far down the list.