Sales of new single-family houses in the United States moved up in July, following a sharp decline in June, fresh evidence of a bumpy housing market recovery, figures from the U.S. Commerce Department showed on Thursday.

Sales of new single-family houses in July rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 372,000 units, up 3.6 percent from June and 25.3 percent from a year ago.

The level was the same as in May, the highest in more than two years, but only about half of the 700,000 annual rate that economists deem for a healthy market.

Meanwhile, the median sales price of new houses sold in July fell slightly to 224,200 U.S. dollars from 229,100 dollars in June.

The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of July was 142,000 units, which represents a supply of 4.6 months at the current sales rate.

Although record-low mortgage rates and lower prices have made home buying more affordable, due to tight credit standards, many people are still having difficulty qualifying for home loans. Economists also cited weak job creation and stagnant wages as restraints on housing market.