New US home sales take biggest drop in seven yrs

26 March 2007 22:58  [Source: ICIS news]

WASHINGTON (ICIS News)--New US home sales dropped 3.9% last month for the second consecutive month, according to a Monday report by the Commerce Department.

Sales of single-family houses for February fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 848,000 units, which was the lowest in about seven years, the report said.

New home sales are an important downstream gauge for business in the US chemicals industry.

In January, sales of new houses had fallen 15.8%, which was the biggest drop in one month in about 13 years.

Every region of the country experienced a decline in sales except for the US west, where sales climbed 24.6% in February after a 25.8% decline in January. Sales in the northeast fell by 26.8% in February; by 20% in the midwest; and by 7% in the south.

The total number of unsold homes nationwide climbed to 546,000 - a number that would provide 8.1 months of housing sales at the February sales rate. The median price of a new home dropped to $250,000 in February, a 0.3% decline from one year ago.

The Commerce Department also downgraded sales numbers for the previous three months, reporting that home sales were weaker during that time period than previously estimated.

Sales of existing homes rose last month, according to a Commerce Department report last week.

By: Mickey McCarter
+1 713 525 2653

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