Sales of new single-family homes decreased 7.0% to a 414,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in December, according to data released by the Commerce Department Monday.
The decline came after a downwardly revised 445,000 rate in November, originally reported as a 2.1% drop to 464,000. Thomson Reuters' poll of economists had predicted a 457,000 sales level for December.
Sales of new homes were 4.5% above the 396,000 rate in December 2012, Commerce said.
The supply of new homes at the current sales rate grew to 5.0 months from 4.7 months in November.
At the end of December, the number of new homes on the market decreased to 171,000 from 176,000.
The unadjusted average price of a new single-family home slipped to $311,400 from $334,600.
Meanwhile, the unadjusted median price rose to $270,200 from $268,500 in the previous month.
Sales fell in three of the four regions of the country in the month and rose in one.
Sales in the Northeast slumped 36.4% to 21,000 from 33,000, while sales in the South were down 7.3% to 230,000 from 240,000, and sales in the West slid 8.8% to 103,000 homes from 113,000 sold a month earlier. Midwest sales rose 17.6% to 60,000 from 51,000.
