1 hour, 30 minutes ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sales of newly constructed U.S. single-family homes were stronger than expected in June, and inventories shrank to three-and-a-half-year low, a government report showed on Friday, providing a glimmer of hope for the beaten-down housing market.U.S. new home sales fell 0.6 percent to a 530,000 annual pace last month from a revised 533,000 rate, the Commerce Department said. Economists polled by Reuters were expecting sales to slow to a 500,000 seasonally adjusted annual sales rate from a previously reported 512,000 pace in May.
"We are approaching a bottom, but we are not there yet," said Michelle Meyer an economist at Lehman Brothers in New York.
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