New home sales in the U.S. showed a notable decrease from February to March but nevertheless came in substantially higher than most economists had predicted.
According to figures released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday, new sales of single-family houses came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 328,000 in March.
The March rate reflects a 7.1 percent drop from the revised February rate of 353,000. However, the February revisions brought the new home sales rate for the month up significantly from the 313,000 initially reported.
Most economists had expected new home sales to rise from the initial February report, predicting a March sales rate of 318,000.
The revised figures put the February sales rate at its highest level since November of 2009.
The median sales price for a single-family home ticked downward to $234,500 in March, a 1 percent drop from the $236,900 posted in February.
Regional data showed a 3.1 percent increase in new home sales in the South and a 7.7 percent increase in sales in the Northeast.
In contrast, new home sales in the West tumbled by 27 percent, while Midwestern new home sales were down 20 percent.
The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of March was 144,000, representing 5.3 months of supply at the present sales rate.
Last Thursday, the National Association of Realtors released a separate report showing an unexpected decrease in existing home sales in the month of March.
NAR said existing home sales fell 2.6 percent to an annual rate of 4.48 million in March from an upwardly revised 4.60 million in February.
The drop surprised economists, who had expected existing home sales to edge up to 4.62 million from the 4.59 million originally reported for the previous month.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.