New Home Sales Soar

New homes sales soared 3.7% in June to another record rate, the Commerce Department reported Thursday morning.Sales of new single-family homes hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 935,000, up from a previous record rate of 901,000 sales in May. Considering new sales hit a record 804,000 rate in 1997, the fact that sales are now above the 900,000 rate is a "huge jump," said National Association of Home Builders economist Michael Carliner. The extraordinary strength of the new home sales market has surprised even NAHB economists, who were expecting a slowdown in the second half of the year. But that slowdown may not be coming. "Our surveys of builders don't indicate any slowdown," Mr. Carliner said. The NAHB's website address is http://www.nahb.com.