New Home Sales Fall in February

The Commerce Department reported that sales of new single-family homes in the United States fell sharply for a second consecutive month in February, dropping 3.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 848,000, a weaker-than-expected performance and the slowest sales pace in nearly seven years. All regions of the country except the West experienced weakness last month.

Last month existing home sales in Florida continued to show a more sustainable pace of sales in February while still-low mortgage rates sparked buyer interest, according to FAR. Statewide sales of single-family existing homes totaled 10,779 in February for a 23 percent decrease compared to February 2006. The statewide existing
home median sales price was $235,500.

The February decline followed an even larger 15.8 percent drop in sales in January, which had been the largest one-month plunge in 13 years. The back-to-back declines provided evidence that the housing market is continuing to struggle with lagging demand and a glut of unsold homes.

Source: The Associated Press