US new home sales rise

Sales of new US single-family homes rose to their highest level in more than a year in July as a drop in mortgage rates boosted demand, offering more evidence that the housing market is recovering, reports Reuters.

New home sales jumped 10.6 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 739,000 units last month, the highest level since May 2023, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau said on Friday.

The sales pace for June was revised higher to 668,000 units from a previously reported 617,000 units.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast new home sales, which account for more than 10 per cent of U.S. home sales, to edge up to a rate of 625,000 units.