US new home sales bounce back in August

A key indicator of the health of the US homebuilding sector bounced back last month, boosted by activity in the West.

New US home sales grew by 3.5% month-on-month to reach an annualised pace of 629,000, according to the Department of Commerce.

Economists had forecast an increase to 631,000.

However, July's print was revised down to show a rate of just 608,000 homes, versus an initial estimate of 627,000.

Sales in August strengthened by the most in the Northeast, where the pace of new sales jumped by 47.8% to reach 34,000, but the most significant increase was in fact the 9.1% jump seen in the West, with the annualised rate of sales reaching 168,000.

In the South meanwhile, sales slipped by 1.7% on the month to reach 350,000.

In parallel, in August the supply of new homes available for sale edged lower to 6.1 months' worth of sales, against 6.2 months in July and 6.0 months one year ago.

Prices also weakened, with the median sales price falling from $328,100 for July to $320,200 last month.