WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Sales of new single-family houses edged up a 0.7 percent in August, following three strong monthly gains, the U.S. Commerce Department said Friday.

New home sales of one-family houses in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 429,000, according to estimates released by the department.

This represents 0.7 percent above the revised July rate of 426,000, but is 3.4 percent below the August 2008 estimate of 444,000.

Analysts had expected a 1.6-percent rise in August. Sales have so far risen 30.4 percent above their low in January of this year.

The median sales price of new houses sold in August 2009 was 195,200 U.S. dollars. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of August was 262,000. This represents a supply of 7.3 months at the current sales rate online payday loans.

Although many economists expressed disappointment over the tepid increase of new home sales in August, the Commerce Department was optimistic about the prospect of the housing market.

"The rise in new home sales so far this year has sparked an increase in building activity. Residential construction is likely to grow this quarter after 14 consecutive quarterly declines," the department said in a statement.

"We are encouraged by the signs of stabilization in the housing market represented by today's data on new home sales, helped by the strong fiscal and monetary actions that have been taken to stimulate economic growth," it said.

New home sales in U.S. edge up by 0.7% in August