New Homes Sell Briskly, Bucking Rate Rise

Sales of new homes rose 8.3 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted rate of 497,000, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Last month’s pace was the best since May 2008, and sales were up 38 percent from a year earlier. Mortgage rates are rising, and home buyers are acting quickly to purchase before prices climb further. The supply of new homes for sale at the end of June was 161,000; and it would take 3.9 months to deplete it at the current sales pace, the quickest since January. The median price for a new home sold in June was $249,700, 7.4 percent more than during the same month of last year. | Read More