2021.08.2414:42:00UTC+00U.S. New Home Sales Rebound By 1.0% In July

The Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing a rebound in U.S. new home sales in the month of July.

The report showed new home sales increased by 1.0 percent to an annual rate of 708,000 in July after slumping by 2.6 percent to an upwardly revised rate of 701,000 in June.

Economists had expected new home sales to jump by 3.6 percent to a rate of 700,000 from the 676,000 originally reported for the previous month.

While new home sales in June were upwardly revised, the annual rate still represented the lowest level since April of last year.

The increase in new home sales came as new home sales in the West skyrocketed by 14.4 percent to an annual rate of 215,000.

New home sales in the South also climbed by 1.3 percent, while new home sales in the Northeast and Midwest plummeted by 24.1 percent and 20.2 percent, respectively.

The Commerce Department also said the median sales price of new houses sold in July was $390,500, up 5.5 percent from $370,200 in June and up 18.4 percent from $329,800 a year ago.

The estimate of new houses for sale at the end of July was 367,000, representing a supply of 6.2 months at the current sales rate.

"While demand for new homes remains strong, high prices and backlogs in construction will temper sales in the months ahead," said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

On Monday, the National Association of Realtors released a separate report showing existing home sales jumped by 2.0 percent to an annual rate of 5.99 million in July.