WASHINGTON - Sales of newly built, single-family homes declined 8.4% in June, breaking a two-month streak of gains, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Northeast was most profoundly affected, crashing by 60%. Meanwhile, new single-family home sales climbed 14.5% in the Midwest.

Barry Rubenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a builder from Gainesville, FL, offered an upbeat perspective of the new single family reversal. "While we would have liked to see a third consecutive month of new-home sales gains in June, the fact remains that the sales numbers are up on both a quarterly and yearly basis, while builders continue to report that they are seeing more serious buyers in the market for a newly constructed home with all of the latest updates."

David Crowe, chief economist of the NAHB, said June's decline "represents an adjustment from a robust level of activity in May, yet overall results for the second quarter show we are still on track for continued improvement."