New home sales declined 8.7% month-over-month in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 675,000 units (consensus 695,000) from an upwardly revised 739,000 (from 714,000) in July. On a year-over-year basis, new home sales were up 5.8%.
The key takeaway from the report is that new home sales activity, which is measured on signed contracts, is being adversely impacted by high mortgage rates that have hurt affordability. New home sales in August were the lowest since March.