New home sales up from last year, down from June

Sales of new single-family houses in July 2011 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 298,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
This is 0.7 percent below the revised June rate of 300,000, but is 6.8 percent above the July 2010 record low of 279,000.
The median sales price of new houses sold in July 2011 was $222,000; the average sales price was $272,300. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of July was 165,000. This represents a supply of 6.6 months at the current sales rate.