July New Home Sales Rise 12.4% to 654,000 Annual Rate

WASHINGTON - The pace of new single-family home sales surged to a 654,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in July, well ahead of the 580,000 rate expected, data released by the Commerce Department Tuesday showed.

Overall, the data suggest new home sales remain on a solid upward trajectory. Even if some of the July gain is revised away or possibly dismissed as a fluke, the pace of new home sales should still be viewed as recovering nicely.

New home sales in June was revised down to 582,000 from the previously reported 592,000 rate, while May sales were unrevised at a 572,000 rate. Taken together, the second quarter average now stands at 575,000, well behind the July rate.

The July increase was led by an 18.1% gain in the large South revisions and a 40.% increase in the Northeast region. The Midwest added a 1.2% increase, while sales in the West were unchanged.

On an unadjusted basis, July sales were up 7.5% from June, and up a solid 32.6% from a year ago.

The supply of new homes for sale fell by 2.9% to 233,000 in July, the lowest level since November. When combined with the huge increase in sales, the months supply plunged to 4.3 months from 4.7 months in June, hitting the lowest level since June 2013.

The median sales price of new homes fell by 5.1% to $294,600 in July after a June increase. The median price was down 0.5% from July 2015.

Market News International is a real-time global news service for fixed-income and foreign exchange market professionals. See www.marketnews.com.

Market News International is a real-time global news service for fixed-income and foreign exchange market professionals. See www.marketnews.com.
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