New home sales in January at 321,000 annual rate (by Jeffry Bartash)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - New single-family homes in the U.S. sold at a 321,000 annual rate in January, compared to December's upwardly revised level of 324,000, according to the latest government data. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected new home sales last month to total about 315,000 on an annualized basis. Sales in December were initially reported at a 307,000 annual rate; the upward revision marks the biggest increase in monthly sales since December 2010. The median sales prices, meanwhile, edged up to $217,100 last month from $216,500 in December. The supply of new homes on market fell to 5.6 ,months, the lowest level in six years. And the actual number of new homes available for sale slid to a record low of 151,000. More than half of all the new home sales in January took place in the South.