New Home Sales Dropped in January

New single family home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 494,000 in January, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development. The January rate is 9.2 percent below the revised December rate of 544,000 and 5.2 percent below the year ago rate of 521,000. In contrast, sales of existing homes rose 8.2 percent year-over-year.

Sales were mixed across regions, falling in the West and Midwest by 32.1 and 5.9 percent, respectively, but increased 3.4 percent in the Northeast and 1.8 percent in the South.

The median sales price of new homes was $278,800, down from $295,800 in December. The average price was $365,700, up from $347,700 in the previous month.

At the end of January, there was an estimated supply of 5.8 months at the current sales rate, up from a 5.1 month supply in December.

Read the Census/HUD release.