new home sales up 7.2% in January

The New home sales in the United States it was much higher than expected in January, as prices continued to fall in a context of rising interest rates.

Some 670,000 new single-family homes were sold in the first month of the year, according to figures released on Friday by the Commerce Department, while analysts at Briefing.com had forecast sales of 620,000.

This represents an increase of 7.2% compared to the figure for December, revised upwards.

The median sales price for new homes was $427,500 and the median price was $474,400.

Sales, however, remain well below their level a year ago, when they reached 831,000.

“While new home sales are improving, existing homes, which account for the bulk of home sales, real estatethey are still very weak,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief economist at consultancy HFE.

In fact, existing home sales experienced their twelfth straight month of decline in January, according to figures from the National Federation of Realtors (NAR).

Some 4 million homes and apartments changed ownership at an annualized rate, a decrease of 0.7 percent.

“In general, the increase in mortgage rates is affecting affordability and weighing heavily on home sales,” Farooqi said, referring to “a trend that has yet to show signs of stabilizing or reversing.”