August New Home Sales Slip

New single-family homes sales fell by 7.6 percent in August as tight inventories continued to hamper home buyers, HUD and the Census Bureau reported yesterday.

The report said new single-family home sales came in at 609,000, seasonally adjusted, 7.6 percent revised July numbers (659,000) but nearly 21 percent higher than a year ago (505,000).

The report said the median sales price of new houses sold in August fell slightly to $284,000; the average sales price fell slightly to $353,600. HUD/Census reported the seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of August actually rose 235,000 from 231,000 in July, representing a 4.6-month supply at the current sales rate.