New home sales for February dropped to the lowest levels in
13 years, according to a Census Bureau report released today.
Last month’s sales were at a seasonally adjusted
annual rate of 590,000, down 2 percent from January’s final figures. The median
price of a new home sold last month was $244,100, down 3 percent from a year
earlier.
The report also indicated that the battered housing
industry still has backlog of unsold inventory. Builders said it took more than
seven months to sell a completed home. At that rate, the nation’s new home
inventory equals an almost 10-month supply.
In related news, the National Association of
Realtors reported Monday that existing home slightly on the largest
year-over-year drop in prices since the group began reporting that statistic in
1999. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price index released
yesterday showed a record 11 percent annual drop in home prices, also the
lowest level since the index was created eight years ago.