Sales of new single-family houses in February fell 0.6% from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 618,000 but remained 0.5% ahead of the same month last year, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The consensus estimate for the month among economists was a rate of 620,000, according to Bloomberg.
The decline was led by a 17.6% drop in sales in the West region to a pace of 164,000. The Midwest also was down, dropping 3.7% to an annual pace of 79,000.
The median sales price of new houses sold in February 2018 was $326,800, up marginally from January, and up more sharply from $298,000 a year earlier. The average sales price was $376,700, down from $377,100 in the prior month but up from $$370,500 in February, 2017.
The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of February was 305,000. This represents a supply of 5.9 months at the current sales rate.
