WASHINGTON -- Sales of new single-family houses fell 7.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 369,000 in December, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
The decelerated sales pace followed a very strong November, which posted a revised rate of 398,000, originally reported as 377,000. The November rate was the strongest since April 2010, when a new home buyer tax credit pushed the sales pace to 422,000.
The December rate defied widespread predictions of a gain, and was well below the 386,000 pace projected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters. The pace was still 8.8% above the December 2011 estimate of 339,000.
New home sales fell in three of the four geographical regions. Sales climbed 21.3% to 57,000 in the Midwest, but fell 29.4% to 24,000 in the Northeast, 11.1% to 80,000 in the West, and 8.4% to 208,000 in the South.
The median sales price of new houses increased 1.3% to $248,900 in December, from the revised November median price of $245,600. On a year-over-year basis, the median price jumped 13.9% above $218,600 in December 2011.
The seasonally adjusted estimate of new homes for sale at the end of December was 151,000, up from the previous month's 149,000. That represents a supply of 4.9 months at the current sales rate.
The end of year estimate for new homes sold in 2012 was 367,000, a 19.9% increase from 306,000 in 2011. The 2012 total marks the strongest sales year since the 375,000 mark set in 2009.
