(fxcue news) - A report released by the Commerce Department on Friday showed a substantial increase by new home sales in the U.S. in the month of July. The Commerce Department said new home sales spiked by 10.6 percent to an annual rate of 739,000 in July after rising by 0.3 percent to an upwardly revised rate of 668,000 in June. Economists had expected new home sales to jump by 2.1 percent to an annual rate of 630,000 from the 617,000 originally reported for the previous month. With the much bigger than expected surge, new home sales reached their highest annual rate since hitting 741,000 in May 2023. The sharp increase in new home sales partly reflected strength in the West, where new home sales skyrocketed by 33.8 percent to an annual rate of 194,000. New home sales in the Midwest and Northeast also spiked by 9.9 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively, while new home sales in the South shot up by 2.9 percent. The report also said the median sales price of new houses sold in July was $429,800, up 3.1 percent from $416,700 in June but down 1.4 percent from $435,800 in the same month a year ago. The estimate of new houses for sale at the end of July was 462,000, which represents 7.5 months of supply at the current sales rate. The months of supply is down from 8.4 in June but up from 7.3 in July 2024. A separate report released by National Association of Realtors on Thursday showed existing home sales in the U.S. snapped a four-month skid in July, with sales rebounding by slightly more than expected. NAR said existing home sales shot up by 1.3 percent to an annual rate of 3.95 million in July after plunging by 5.1 percent to a revised rate of 3.90 million in June. Economists had expected existing home sales to jump by 1.0 percent to an annual rate of 3.93 million from the 3.89 million originally reported for the previous month.