New Home Sales Fall in July

After reaching record territory in June, new home sales fell 2% in July, according to data released Monday by the U.S. Department of Commerce.New homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 886,000 units in July, compared with a revised high of 900,000 in June. Despite the dropoff in activity, new home sales are still 10% above the July 1997 rate of 808,000. Government data show that the median sales price of a new home sold in July was $147,900, up 1.3% from a year ago. At the end of July, the seasonally adjusted estimate of new homes for sale was 288,000, representing a supply of 3.8 months at the current sales rate. Regionally, new home sales took a big hit in the Midwest, where they were down 11.7%. Sales activity remained virtually unchanged in the Northeast and West but increased 1.3% in the South. The Commerce Department's website address is http://www.doc.gov.