U.S. New Home Sales Spike 17% in December, Beats Wall Street's Expectations

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According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), sales of new single-family houses in December 2010 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 329,000.

This is 17.5 percent (±17.7%) above the revised November rate of 280,000, but is 7.6 percent (±17.0%) below the December 2009 estimate of 356,000.

The median sales price of new houses sold in December 2010 was $241,500; the average sales price was $291,400. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of December was 190,000. This represents a supply of 6.9 months at the current sales rate.

An estimated 321,000 new homes were sold in 2010. This is 14.2 percent (±4.2%) below the 2009 figure of 375,000.

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