US new home sales rocket in December

New US home sales rocketed 10.8% month-on-month to reach an annualised pace of 544,000 last month, according to the US Department of Commerce.

Economists had been expecting a reading of 500,000.

Sales were left running 9.9% above last year´s pace, driving the supply of new homes available for sale from the equivalent of 5.6 months to 5.2 months.

The average price of a home on the other hand slipped from $364,200 to $346,400.