Reuters: U.S.: March new home sales fall, February revised up sharply

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March new home sales fall, February revised up sharply Apr 24th 2012, 14:08 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Wall Street edges up early; 3M, AT&T boost Dow 9:58am EDT Euro, stocks rise but Europe worries linger 9:54am EDT D.R. Horton signals strong spring for housing Mon, Apr 23 2012 Existing home sales fall 2.6 percent in March Thu, Apr 19 2012 Jobless data suggests slowdown in job creation Thu, Apr 19 2012 Analysis & Opinion U.S. housing slump: Six years and counting Foreign investors still buying American A house sits for sale in newly built subdivision of single family homes in San Marcos, California February 29, 2012. Credit: Reuters/ Mike Blake WASHINGTON | Tue Apr 24, 2012 10:08am EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New single-family home sales dropped in March to their lowest level in four months, but the reading still beat analysts' expectations as the government said sales in prior months were higher than initially thought. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday sales slipped 7.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted 328,000-unit annual rate. Government data on new home sales can be subject to substantial revisions. February's sales pace was revised higher to 353,000 units, the fastest pace since November 2009, from the previously reported 313,000 units. Sales for December and January were also revised higher. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast sales at a 320,000-unit rate in March. The median price for a new home fell 1 percent to $234,500. However, compared to March last year, the median price was up 6.3 percent. The U.S. housing sector has dragged on the economy since a home price bubble deflated and helped cause the 2007-2009 recession. Economists have speculated that an incipient recovery is taking hold in the sector but recent data has given mixed signals. The National Association of Realtors said on Thursday that home resales fell in March but prices inched higher from a year earlier. Earlier on Tuesday, the S&P/Case Shiller index showed U.S. single-family home prices rose for the first time in 10 months in February. The Commerce Department report showed the inventory of new homes on the market edged down to a record low in March at 144,000 units. At March's sales pace it would take 5.3 months to clear the houses from the market, up from 5.0 months in February. (Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Neil Stempleman) Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

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