By Jann Swanson | Mortgage News Daily
Rather than the month-over-month decline expected, July new home sales soared above 600,000 units for the first time since late 2007. The U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported on Tuesday that newly constructed homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 654,000 during the month, a 12.4 percent gain from June’s downwardly adjusted rate of 582,000 (from 592,000). This was a 31.3 percent increase from a year earlier when sales sold at a rate of 498,000 units.
