For the second straight month new home sales nationwide have increased. The US Commerce Department reports that new home sales in July reached 433,000 units, which was the same sales number for October 2008. The July total is 40% higher than the beginning of this year, January 2009 new home sales were 309,000. New home starts increased for the sixth straight month to 490,000 units. This is up from a low of 347,000 starts in January 2009. The Midwest has faired better than the other regions of the US, with a 13% increase in starts. The Northeast, South & West regions were all down in starts for July.