New home sales in the U.S. continued their decline in March, falling 8.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of of 526,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
It was the lowest rate for new home sales in nearly 17 years.
The median sales price of new houses sold in March 2008 was $227,600; the average sales price was $292,200. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of March was 468,000. This represents a supply of 11.0 months at the current sales rate.
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