(Kitco News) - The gold market is holding on to Friday’s gains and remains well supported as the U.S. housing market continues to struggle, even though new home sales improved slightly last month.
New home sales fell 0.6% in July to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 652,000 units—just below June’s revised rate of 656,000—according to a report released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Despite the decline, sales came in stronger than expected; economists had forecast a drop to 635,000 units.
On a year-over-year basis, new home sales were down 8.2%, the report noted.
The gold market is not seeing much reaction to the latest housing data. Spot gold last traded at $3,369.50 an ounce, roughly unchanged on the day.
Economists warn that continued weakness in the housing market does not bode well for overall economic activity. The sector has struggled in recent years due to rising home prices and elevated mortgage rates. However, sales could start to improve as the Federal Reserve looks to ease interest rates again in June and as prices continue to fall.
The report also noted that the median sales price of new houses sold in July 2025 was $403,800, down 0.8% from June 2025 and 5.9% lower than a year earlier. At the same time, the average sales price of new houses sold in July 2025 was $487,300, 3.6% below June’s level and 5.0% lower than in 2024.
Meanwhile, the supply of new homes for sale was little changed from June. The report said there were 499,000 homes for sale at the end of last month, representing a 9.2-month supply at the current sales pace.
