Sales of new, single-family American homes dropped 8.5 percent in July, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 472,000, the government reported.
Sales increased in June by 4.0 percent to a level of 516,000, according to a joint announcement by the Commerce Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.The June figure had earlier been reported as a 7.4 percent gain, to a level of 525,000.
By region, the latest figures showed that the sharpest decline in new home sales occurred in the Midwest.