New home sales dropped in June

Sales of new single-family homes declined month-to-month in June, but rose 15.1 percent from June 2011, the U.S. Commerce Department said Wednesday. Sales fell from a revised May rate of 382,000 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 350,000 in June. The 8.4 percent monthly drop still left sales of new homes higher than June 2011, when the annual rate was estimated at 304,000. The Commerce Department said the average sale price for a new home sold in June $273,900, unchanged from the previous month. Going into July, there were 144,000 new homes on the market, enough to last 4.9 months at the current rate of sales, the Commerce Department said.