New homes sales rise 11 percent in June

New home sales in the United States rose 11 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 384,000, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Monday.

June sales of new single-family homes, however, were 21.3 percent below June 2008, when an estimated 488,000 new homes were sold.

The median sales price of a new home sold in June was $206,200, with an average price of $276,900. In May, the median sales price was $221,600, while the average sales price was $274,300.

The Commerce Department said the month ended with an estimate of 281,000 new homes left on the market, which would take 8.8 months to sell at the current sales rate.

The number of new homes available is a sharp drop from the end of May, when 292,000 new homes were available, which represented, at the time, a 10.2 month supply.