Off the wire
• Japanese fishermen oppose release of radioactive water into sea  • Feature: "No more war ever": cautionary diary of young Polish girl  • Dutchman Van Praag to challenge Blatter  • IS threatens to kill Japanese hostage, Jordanian pilot in 24 hours  • UN leads Kenya in marking Holocaust Day  • U.S. durable goods orders continue falling in December  • Guards penalized after prisoner uses app to blackmail women  • Berlinale 2015 to focus on women, indigenous cinema  • Chinese Ningbo city explores opportunities in Bulgaria  • Hungary's central bank keeps interest rate on hold despite global volatility  
You are here: 　 Home

U.S. new home sales surge in December

Xinhua, January 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

Sales of U.S. new homes rose to their highest level since June 2008 in December, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

The sales of new single-family houses in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 481,000, 11.6 percent above the revised November rate and 8.8 percent higher than the year-ago level.

The median sales price of new houses stood at 298,100 U.S. dollars in the month. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of December was 219,000 units, which represented a supply of 5.5 months at the current sales rate.

In 2014, an estimated 435,000 new homes were sold, 1.2 percent above the 2013 figure.

New home sales, though accounting for only a small share of total sales in the housing market, still have an important impact on job creation and household consumption. With the help of low mortgage rates and improving job market, the new home sales will continue recovery, said analysts. Endite