Sales of new homes rose in July to the highest level in 14 months, the federal government reported on Friday, as falling mortgage interest rates fueled demand.
New home sales, which are counted as the signing of a contract, increased 10.6% for the month to a seasonally adjusted rate of 739,000 houses, according to the U.S. Commerce Department’s Census Bureau. Meanwhile the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage was 6.86% in July, down from a high of 7.39% in May, according to Bankrate’s lender survey.
Viewed on an annual basis, single-family home sales were up 5.6% last month compared to July 2023. Prices remained high with the median sales price of new houses sold in July 2024 at $429,800. The average sales price was $514,800.
Other housing data, however, has been mixed. While sales have increased, privately owned housing construction starts were down 6.8% in July compared to June, the federal government said in a separate report issued last week. This was 16% below the July 2023 rate of 1,473,000.
Construction starts for single-family homes in July fell to 851,000, which is 14.1% below the revised June figure of 991,000.
