WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sales of new U.S. single-family homes unexpectedly rose in May, but the rebound is likely to be temporary as home prices continue to increase and the average contract rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage approaches 6%, reducing affordability.

New home sales jumped 10.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 696,000 units last month, the Commerce Department said on Friday. May’s sales pace was revised higher to 629,000 units from the previously reported 591,000 units.

Sales surged in the West and the densely populated South, but declined in the Midwest and Northeast.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast that new home sales, which account for 11.4% of U.S. home sales, would fall to a rate of 588,000 units. Sales fell 5.9% on a year-on-year basis in May. They peaked at a rate of 993,000 units in January 2021, which was the highest level since the end of 2006.