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August 24, 2006 10:30 AM, EDT

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ew home sales fell 4.3% in July, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

The level dropped to a 1.072 million annual rate from a revised June rate of 1.12 million. Economists had forecast a decline to a 1.1 million pace, Bloomberg reported.

Rising home sales can mean more business for flatbed trucking companies that haul building materials and dry van freight that haul household appliances and furniture.

New home sales — which account for about 15% of residential real estate sales — rose in the Northeast and West and declined in the South and Midwest. Levels in the Midwest were the lowest in almost nine years, Commerce said.