August 2012 new home sales unexpectedly drop .3%

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9/26/12, "U.S. New Home Sales Unexpectedly Drop 0.3% In August," RTTnews.com

"In contrast to a recent batch of largely upbeat U.S. housing data, the Commerce Department released a report Wednesday morning showing that new home sales unexpectedly decreased in the month of August.

The report said new home sales edged down 0.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 373,000 in August from the revised July rate of 374,000.

Economists had expected new home sales to climb to an annual rate of 380,000 from the 372,000 rate originally reported for the previous month.

Despite the unexpected monthly decrease, the Commerce Department noted that new home sales are still up by 27.7 percent compared to August of 2011."

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