New Home Sales in December Beat Estimates

Washington, DC, Jan. 26, 2011 -- Sales of new houses in the U.S. rose more than forecast in December, according to the Commerce Department.

Sales rose 18% to a 329,000 annual pace, the government said.

Economists expected a rise to 300,000. The percentage jump was the biggest since 1992, and was led by a 72% increase in the West.

The median sales price increased 8.5% in December from the previous year, to $241,500, today’s report showed.

The supply of homes at the current sales rate fell to 6.9 month’s worth.

Sales for all of 2010 totaled 321,000, a drop of 14.4% from the 375,000 homes sold in 2009. It was the lowest total in 47 years.