New home sales fell 6.9% to 607,000 during January following a December increase to 652,000, revised from 621,000. It was the lowest level of sales in three months. January sales of 623,000 had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The government shutdown delayed this report by roughly five weeks and the February figures will be available on March 29. These sales transactions are recorded when sales contracts are signed or deposits are made.

The median price of a new home slipped 0.6% (-3.8% y/y) in January to $317,200. The average price of a new home eased 0.2% (-1.2% y/y to $373,100.

By region, sales patterns were mixed. Purchases in the Northeast declined to 31,000 (-11.4% y/y) from 35,000 in December, while sales in the South fell to 342,000 (+6.2% y/y) from 403,000. New home sales in the Midwest declined to 50,000 (-41.9% y/y) from 70,000 one month earlier, but in the West sales rose to 184,000 (-3.2% y/y) versus 144,000 in December.

The months' supply of homes on the market rose to 6.6 in January. The median number of months a new home was on the market after its completion increased to a still low 3.4 months.

The data in this report are available in Haver's USECON database. The consensus expectation figure from Action Economics is available in the AS1REPNA database.