The U.S. Commerce Department reported on Tuesday that the sales of new
single-family homes soared 28.8 percent m-o-m to a seasonally adjusted annual
rate of 685,000 units in August. This was the highest
reading since March (707,000).
Economists had predicted the sales pace of 500,000 last month.
The July sales’ pace was revised up to 532,000 units from the initially
reported 511,000 units.
According to the report, new home sales in the South, the largest area, climbed
29.4 percent m-o-m in August. In addition, new home sales in the Northeast jumped
66.7 percent m-o-m, while those in the West increased 27.5 percent m-o-m and in
the Midwest rose 16.7 percent m-o-m.
In y-o-y terms, new home sales edged down 0.1 percent in August.
The report also revealed that the median sales price climbed 8.0 percent
y-o-y to $436,800, while the average sales price surged 11.0 percent y-o-y to $521,800.