New home sales post surprise rise last month

New home sales in the United States rose more than expected in July, official data showed on Tuesday. According to the Department of Commerce, new home sales increased 12.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 654,000 in the seventh month of the year, reaching the highest level since October 2007. Meanwhile, the preceding month's reading was revised down to 582,000 from the originally reported 592,000 units. Market analysts penciled in a slight deceleration to 575,000 units in the reported month. July's surge probably exaggerates the housing market strength, as new single-family home sales are extremely volatile month-to-month; still, they were 31.3% higher than a year ago. The data also showed that new single family home sales jumped 40.0% in the American Northeast, as well as grew 1.2% in the Midwest region. Sales in the South rose 18.1% to their best level since July 2007, whereas the West region remained flat last month. Furthermore, inventories of new homes for sale dropped 2.9% to 233,000 units in July, the lowest level since November 2015. The median price of a new single-family home fell 0.5% year-over-year to $294,600. The US Dollar rose slightly after the release, trading at 1.1326 against the Euro, 100.11 against the Japanese Yen and 1.3186 against the British Pound.