The Commerce Department said today that new home sales for
August came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 609,000 units last
month. Sales were up 20.6
percent from a year ago.
Economists had forecast single-family home sales, which account
for roughly 10 percent of all home sales, falling to a rate of 600,000 units
last month.
July's sales pace was revised up 5,000 units to 659,000 units.
That level of annualized sales is the highest since October 2007.
New home sales have also benefited from a dearth of previously owned houses available for sale.
New home sales have also benefited from a dearth of previously owned houses available for sale.
Last month, the inventory of new homes on the market rose 1.7
percent to 235,000 units.
At August's sales pace it would take only 4.6 months to clear
the supply of houses on the market, up from 4.2 months in July.
The median price for a new home is now at $284,000
