(NAHB.org) Coming off an historic low in May, sales of newly built, single-family homes rose 23.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 330,000 units in June, according to U.S. Commerce Department data released today.

“Today’s numbers are an encouraging sign that new-home sales are coming back from an expected slow period that followed the expiration of the home buyer tax credit program,” said Bob Jones, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Bloomfield Hills, Mich. “While we still have quite a way to go on the path to recovery, it’s good to see that we are headed in the right direction.”

“It’s worth noting that some of the new-home sales in June were due to move-up buyers who were able to sell their previous home to a tax-credit-eligible buyer while that program was active,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “Also, while sales activity is still far from robust, it has picked up some momentum as positive factors such as historic low mortgage rates, great selection and attractive prices help draw potential home buyers back to the market. We anticipate that this momentum will continue along with a gradually improving economy, although other factors such as a critical lack of production financing remain a drag on housing’s recovery.”

(Newsweek.com) A startling whisper has been reverberating around Washington and in the main stream press: Might President Obama slay the beast of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac once and for all?

Such a move would fundamentally change both the way Wall Street operates and the way Americans think about life.

The Obama administration appears to be suggesting -- very subtly -- that homeownership isn't a God-given right. That the American dream has morphed into an American entitlement. That millions of people who should not have been homeowners in the first place ended up paralyzed by unsustainable debt as a result.

And that, finally, to repair the system, the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac model of subsidized housing should be resigned to the past.

(The Wall Street Journal) Sales of new homes are near 47-year lows, yet the supply of new and existing homes is expected to grow in the months ahead as construction ramps up and a wave of foreclosed homes hits the market.

In June, new-home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 330,000 units, the Commerce Department said Monday. While that was up 23.6% from the all-time low of 267,000 in May, the June figures were the second lowest on record.

"What we're really seeing here is that new-home sales are at what I'd call rock bottom," said Steve Blitz, an economist at Majestic Research in New York. "The last time we were running these kinds of numbers was the 1982-1983 recession, when we had 100 million less people."

(UPI.com) Confidence in business conditions among single-family home builders fell in July to the lowest level in more than a year, a U.S. industry group said Monday.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index declined two points to 14 during the month after dropping five points in June.

The monthly survey uses 50 as a break-even point with higher numbers indicating more builders rate business conditions as "good" than "poor."