New-Home Sales Beat |8-Year High in June

(CN) – Americans bought new homes in June at the fastest pace in more than eight years, their enthusiasm for new digs stoked by a solid job market and low mortgage rates.     The Commerce Department said Tuesday that new-home sales rose 3.5 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted rate of 592,000, the best level since February 2008.     Purchases of new homes have climbed 10.1 percent year-to-date, despite volatile sales on a monthly basis.     June’s median sales price rose 6.1 percent from a year ago to $306,700.     Sales surged in the West and Midwest by more than 10 percent in June, but declined in the Northeast and South.