US: New home sales soar 12.4% to highestlevel since 2007

New home sales rose 12.4% in July from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 654,000, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

That was the highest level since October 2007 and beat expectations of  a 1.9% decline to 580,000 new homes. Sales were 31.3% higher than a year ago.