February new-home sales dive 16.9% to record low (by Steve Goldstein)
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Sales of new single-family homes slumped 16.9% to a record-low seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 250,000, the Commerce Department estimated Wednesday. The figure was far below the 290,000 that economists polled by MarketWatch had expected, though January's sales were revised higher to 301,000 from 284,000. Compared to February 2010, sales slumped 28%. Every region but the West saw record lows, and in the Northeast, sales dropped by 57% compared to January levels. The median sales price dived 13.9% to $202,100, the biggest one-month percentage fall on record. The less-volatile three-month average to February was 295,000, compared to 307,000 in January.