U.S. New Home Sales Rebound More Than Expected To Eight-Month High In August

(RTTNews) - The Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing a significant rebound in new home sales in the U.S. in the month of August. The report said new home sales surged by 6.4 percent to an annual rate of 684,000 in August after plunging by 4.3 percent to an upwardly revised rate of 643,000 in July. Economists had expected new home sales to jump by 1.3 percent to an annual rate of 615,000 from the 607,000 originally reported for the previous month. With the much bigger than expected increase, new home sales reached their highest annual rate since hitting 723,000 last December. "New home sales surprised for the upside in August, while the trend of upward revision to prior month data persisted," said Matthew Martin, Senior U.S.