Sales of new single-family homes were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 438,000 as of November, a decrease of about 1.6% compared to the 445,000 units recorded in October and about 1.6% below the 445,000 units recorded in November 2013, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The 1.6% drop comes after new home sales increased 0.7% in October compared to September.
The median sales price of a new home sold in November was $280,900. The average sales price was $321,800.
As of the end of November there were about 213,000 new homes on the market – about a 5.8-month supply at the current sales rate.
Month over month, new home sales were down 12% in the Northeast, down 6.3% in the Midwest and down 6.4% in the South, but were up 14% in the West.
Earlier this month, the Census Bureau and HUD reported that housing starts reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,028,000 in November, a decrease of 1.6% compared to the 1,045,000 units started in October and a decrease of 7% compared to the 1,105,000 units started in November 2013.