New Home Sales Edge Higher in November

Washington, DC, Dec. 27, 2011 -- New-home sales rose 1.6% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 315,000, according to the Commerce Department.

That’s less than half the 700,000 new homes that economists say should be sold to sustain a healthy housing market and is below last year's total of 323,000.

Home construction has shown some signs of life recently, but that's mostly due to the strength of apartment construction.

Builders say the difficult financing picture is causing projects to be put on hold, and in any event it's difficult to compete with existing homes, which are being sold at substantial discounts.

Builders in November cut prices to their lowest levels in more than a year. The median sales price of a new home dropped nearly 4% last month to $214,100.

The market for new single-family homes has all but disappeared over the past year. Nationwide, just 158,000 such homes are now for sale, an all-time low.