New Home Sales Off 5% January

Washington, DC, February 27, 2006–New home sales fell 5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.233 million in January, according to the Commerce Department.

The number of new homes on the market increased 2.5% to a record 528,000, representing a 5.2-months supply at the January sales pace. The months supply is the largest in nine years.

Sales in December were revised higher to a 1.298 million pace from 1.269 million previously estimated.

Economists were expecting home sales to remain level at about 1.27 million.
The median sales price increased 6.7% year-over-year to $238,100, which is exactly the median price for all of 2005.