US New Home Sales Rise 3.5% in August

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sales of new U.S. homes climbed 3.5 percent in August, snapping a two-month decline as buying surged in the pricey Northeast and West housing markets.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that newly built homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 629,000 last month. Sales of new homes have advanced 6.9 percent this year. Still, rising costs and higher mortgage rates have tempered some of the enthusiasm from would-be buyers.

The sales gains mostly came from a 47.8 percent jump in the Northeast and a 9.1 percent increase in the West. New-home sales edged up in the Midwest and fell in the South. The regional figures can be extremely volatile on a monthly basis.

The average sales price has risen 5.2 percent from a year ago to $388,400.

(KA)