New Home Sales Rise 5.5% in November

Washington, DC, Dec. 23, 2010 -- New single-family home sales rose 5.5% in November, the Commerce Department reported, but they remain at depressed levels.

The government said new-home sales rose to an annual rate of 290,000, from a revised 275,000 in October.

The pace of sales is 21.2% below that of November 2009.

The new-home sales report is volatile, and November’s report had a standard of error of plus or minus 16.2%.

Since May the sales rate has ranged between 274,000 and 310,000.

The median sales price of new houses sold in November was $213,000, up 8% from October and the biggest upward move since the 10.7% gain in May.

Compared to November 2009, prices are down 2.6%.

At the current sales rate, there’s a supply of 8.2 months worth of new houses, down from 8.8 in October.