By Reuters
February 26, 2025 – 7:11 AM PST
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sales of new U.S. single-family homes fell more than expected in January as persistently high mortgage rates sidelined potential buyers, the latest indication that housing market activity softened early in the first quarter.
New home sales plunged 10.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 657,000 units last month, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Wednesday. The sales pace for December was revised higher to a rate of 734,000 units from the previously reported 698,000 units.
Unseasonably cold weather in some parts of the country likely accounted for some of the decline in sales.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast new home sales, which make up about 15% of U.S. home sales, would slide to a rate…
