Sales of new single-family homes in the United States dropped by more than eight percentage points in the last month, their lowest levels in just over two years, signaling that increased mortgage rates and soaring prices are decreasing consumer demand for housing.
New home sales declined 8.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 590,000 units last month, below May’s revised 642,000 units, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, published on July 26.