Sales of New Homes Higher Than Expected in June

Washington, DC, July 25, 2008--New home sales fell 0.6 percent in June, the Commerce Department estimated Friday.

The decline in new-home sales to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 530,000 was well above the 501,000 pace expected by economists.

That was because sales for the past three months were revised up sharply. New-home sales in May were revised to a 533,000 level compared with the previous estimate of 512,000.

Sales remained above the cycle-low of 513,000 that was set in March. New-home sales are down 33.2 percent compared with a year ago. The supply of homes on the market fell slightly to 10 months in June from 10.4 months in May. Median sales prices have fallen 2.0% in the past year to $230,900