The final month of home selling in 2010 was a good one, as the annual rate of sales of newly built single-family homes increased 17.5 percent to 329,000 from 280,000 in November, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Commerce. However, 2010 turned out to be the worst year on record for the homebuilding industry; there were just 321,000 new-home sales recorded in 2010, the lowest figure since the government began tracking that data in 1963. What's more, December sales were 7.6 percent below the December 2009 mark of 356,000.
"After six very tough months, the housing market ended the year on an upbeat, with signs of stabilization beginning to take hold in many markets," said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
"I read [the] report as a promising sign that the new-home sales market is re-starting its long journey to a more normal pace after the lull that began in May," added NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe.
