The U.S.
Commerce Department reported on Friday that the sales of new single-family
homes surged 10.6 per cent m-o-m to a seasonally adjusted annual
rate of 739,000 units in July. This marked the biggest increase since August 2022 and represented
the highest reading since May 2023 (741,000).
Economists
had foreseen a sales pace of 630,000 last month.
The June sales
pace was revised up to 668,000 units from the originally reported 617,000
units.
According to
the report, new home sales in the South, the largest area, increased by 2.9 per
cent m-o-m in July to 425,000. In addition, new home sales in the West jumped by 33.8 per
cent m-o-m to 194,000, in
the Midwest climbed by 9.9 per cent m-o-m to 89,000 and in the Northeast leapt by
6.9 per cent m-o-m to 31,000.
Compared to
July 2023, new home sales soared 5.6 per cent.
The report also
revealed that the median sales price fell by 1.4 per cent y-o-y to $429,800 in
July, while the average sales price soared by 1.4 per cent y-o-y to $514,800.