New home sales increased 2.3% month-over-month in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 616,000, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced.
It is the third consecutive monthly gain for new home sales. Compared with December 2021, however, new home sales were down 26.6%.
“Builder incentives and declining mortgage rates during the month of December helped push new home sales up for the month,” stated Jerry Konter, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders. “However, because of higher construction costs and decreasing affordability, sales are down more than 25% compared to a year ago.”
The median sales price of new houses sold in December was $442,100 with an average sales price of $528,400.
Regionally, month-over-month, new home sales fell 19.4% in the Northeast and 15.3% in the West. New home sales in the Midwest and South increased 35.2% and 6.2%, respectively.
