New home sales plummet to 6½-year low in July as mortgage rates soar

Sales rose in the Northeast, but dove in the West and the Midwest as well as the densely populated South.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast that new home sales, which account for a fraction of US home sales, would decrease to a rate of 575,000 units. Sales dropped 29.6% on a year-on-year basis in July. They peaked at a rate of 993,000 units in January 2021, which was the highest level since the end of 2006.

Data last week showed single-family housing starts, which account for the biggest share of homebuilding, tumbled to a two-year low in July, while . The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market sentiment index fell below the break-even level of 50 in August for the first time since May 2020.

The Fed has hiked its policy rate by 225 basis points since March to slow the economy and, in turn, curb inflation.

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