Washington, DC, February 28—-New home sales dropped 9.2 percent in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.106 million units, according to the Commerce Department.
Economists had forecast a decline to a rate of about 1.13 million units.
December's sales were revised higher to reflect a rate of 1.218 million from 1.098 million.
On a year-over-year basis sales were down 4.2 percent.
The number of homes for sale increased about 3.5 percent to a record 438,000, a 4.7-month supply at the current sales pace. It's the largest inventory-to-sales ratio since June 2000.
The median price of a new home fell 4.8 percent year-over-year to $199,400.
Sales were off in three of four regions, with declines of 40.3 percent in the Midwest, 17.1 percent in the Northeast and 3.3 percent in the South. Sales increased 5.6 percent in the West.
