US new homes sales rise less than expected in June

Sales of new US single-family homes rose a little less than expected in June, according to official data released on Wednesday.

Figures from the Commerce Department showed new home sales rose 0.8% from May's downwardly-revised 605,000 to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 610,000. This was slightly below expectations for an increase to 615,000.

Meanwhile, the median price of new houses sold in June was $310,800, down 3.3% from a year ago.

The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of June was 272,000, which represents a supply of 5.4 months at the current sales rate.