Sales of new single-family homes hit a 5-month Low in July, falling to an annual rate of 298k from June's 300k. Economists polled by Reuters had been expecting 310k. In percentage terms, this is a 0.7 pct decline and follows a decline of 2.9 pct in June. Sales actually increased in the Northeast and Midwest, but were offset by the declines in the South and West regions. The NE region moved up 100% from 14k units to 28k units, while the other three regions moved less than 10%. The median price of New Homes sold in July stood at $222,000 which is up 4.7 pct from a year ago. The total number of homes for sale across all regions fell to another record low: 165k in the current report vs 166k in July.
