New-Home Sales Set Records

New single-family home sales jumped 4% in June to set new monthly and quarterly sales records thanks to upward revisions in the April and May sales numbers.The U.S. Census Bureau reported that new-home sales rose from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.32 million in May to 1.37 million in June. For the second quarter, sales of new homes hit a record seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.33 million. June and second-quarter results are "way beyond expectations," said Michael Carliner, an economist at the National Association of Home Builders. NAHB economists were expecting sales to top last year's record by 3.5%. Now, they will have to revise that estimate upward, Mr. Carliner said.