WASHINGTON, Aug 24: Sales of new US homes jumped 6.5 per cent in July to a record seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.41 million, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday.

The report defied predictions of a cooling in the hot US real estate market in the wake of a sharper-than-expected drop in home re-sales reported on Tuesday.

The latest report showed the supply of new homes on the market increased 1.8 per cent in July to a record 460,000, which represents a lean four-month supply at July sales pace. It was the tightest inventory in relation to sales since October.

Economists were expecting sales to dip slightly to a 1.328 million pace in July.

New home sales are up 27.7 per cent since July 2004. Reversing a trend toward higher prices, the median sales price fell to $203,800, and is down four per cent in the past year.—AFP