Residential sales in May 2012 are up, and that is good news! Estimates released yesterday jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development say the May rates are 7.6 percent above the revised April rate and 19.8 percent above the May 2011 estimate.

The median sales price of new houses sold in May 2012 was $234,500; the average sales price was $273,900. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of May was 145,000.  This represents a supply of 4.7 months at the current sales rate. New residential sales data for June 2012 will be released on Wednesday, July 25, 2012.

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa.