India, July 24 -- After reporting a steep drop by new home sales in the U.S. in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing a modest rebound by new home sales in the month of June.
The Commerce Department said new home sales rose by 0.6 percent to an annual rate of 627,000 in June after plummeting by 11.6 percent to a rate of 623,000 in May. Economists had expected new home sales to jump by 4.3 percent to a rate of 650,000.
"June new home sales were weaker than expected in June despite builder incentives aimed at encouraging sales," said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.
She added, "We think those incentives, including price cuts, will prevent a sharp decline in sales, but...