March New Home Sales Drop 11.4% to 481,000 Annual Rate

Sales of new single-family homes plunged 11.4% to a 481,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in March, according to data released by the Commerce Department Thursday.

The increase came after a revised 5.6% gain to a 543,000 rate in February, originally reported as a 7.8% increase to 539,000.

Thomson Reuters' poll of economists had predicted a 510,000 sales level.

Sales of new homes were 19.4% better than the 403,000 rate in March 2014, Commerce said.

The supply of new homes at the current sales rate rose to 5.3 months from 4.6 months.

At the end of March, the number of new homes on the market grew to 213,000 from 209,000.

The unadjusted average price of a new single-family home slipped to $343,300 from $345,500.

Meanwhile, the unadjusted median price slid to $277,400 from $281,600 in the previous month.

Sales declined in three of the four regions of the country in the month.

Sales in the Northeast were down 33.3% to 20,000 from 30,000. Sales in the South were off 15.8% to 267,000 from 317,000, sales in the West fell 3.4% to 140,000 from 145,000 and Midwest sales rose 5.9% to 54,000 from 51,000.

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