Home sales in West up 46% in a year

Sales of new, single-family homes fell to a five-month low in July, however, sales in the West are up 46 percent from a year ago. The Commerce Department released figures in Washington Tuesday showing new home sales were down 0.7 percent from June. Sales were up 6.8 percent from July 2010. In the West, which includes Arizona, sales were down 5.9 percent from June to July of 2011. Even so, sales are up 45.5 percent from July of 2010. Nationwide, the median price of new houses sold in July was $222,000, up 4.7 percent from a year ago. With new home builders reluctant to pick up the pace of building, inventories continue to fall. There was a record low 165,000 new homes on the market at the end of July, the equivalent of a 6.6-month supply of homes at the current pace of sales. The number of sales rose in the East and Midwest, but declined in the South and West.

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