US new home sales fall more than expected in December

Sales of new US single-family homes fell more than expected in December, according to official data released on Thursday.

Figures from the Commerce Department showed new home sales declined 10.4% from November’s revised rate of 598,000 to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 536,000. Analysts had been expecting a smaller decline to 583,000.

Compared to the same month ago, sales were down 0.4%.

Meanwhile, the median price of a new home was $322,500, up 7.9% from a year ago.

Pantheon Macroeconomics said markets should expect another couple of soft months, then a rebound.

“Notwithstanding the unreliability of these numbers - the margin of error is +/-73K - this drop in sales is in line with the message from the summer's fall in mortgage applications. The apps data suggest sales will remain close to their December level for another couple months. Then, sales should rebound to about 600K by April, reflecting the post-election jump in applications.”