July new home sales fall for 3rd straight month

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)
Purchases of new home in the U.S. fell for the third straight month in July, the Commerce Department estimated Tuesday.
New home sales fell 0.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 298,000.
The drop was a surprise to analysts.
The consensus forecast of economists surveyed by MarketWatch was for new home sales to rise 1% to 315,000.
New-home sales in June fell a revised 2.9% to a 300,000 level compared with the previous estimate of a 1% fall to 312,000.
New-home sales are up 6.8% compared with a year ago.
The supply of new homes inched down 0.6% to a record low 165,000.
The supply in relation to sales held steady at 6.6 months in July.
Median sales prices have risen 4.7% in the past year to $222,000.