New US home sales edged down 0.3% in August September 27, 2012 Sales of new homes in the United States dipped slightly in August from July but the median price of homes sold during the month rose by a record amount. The Commerce Department says that new-home sales edged down to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 373,000 in August, a dip of 0.3% from July's rate of 374,000. That had been the fastest pace since April 2010 when government tax credits were boosting sales. Sales in August were up 27.7% from the pace a year ago. But even with that gain, new-home sales remain well below the annual pace of 700,000 that economists consider healthy. The median price of a new home jumped 11.2% in August to $256,900, the biggest one-month gain on record.