Sales of new single-family homes fell 0.3% in August to an annual rate of 373,000, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. The pace of sales last month was less than what most analysts had expected. Economists polled by Reuters predicted sales of 380,000. July sales were revised higher to 374,000 units from 372,000 units -- the fastest pace since August 2010. CoreLogic chief economist Mark Fleming joined The Daily Ticker to discuss the numbers. "I think they were pretty good," says Fleming. "No change from July is a relatively good number and you know we are still slowly growing out of the very very low troughs of a year or so ago." Although the August figures are down slightly from the previous month, "we expect sales, new and existing, to slow down as we head into the off season at this time of the year," adds Fleming. New homes sales are up nearly 30% from a year ago. Meanwhile, U.S. home prices continue to rise. In July, home prices rose 1.6% following a 2.3% increase the month before, according to the latest S&P Case-Shiller data reported Tuesday. Read more from YahooNews
