New-Home Sales Drop

New single-family home sales dropped 12% in November, but that is not going to stop 2004 from going into the record books.The U.S. Census Bureau reported that new-home sales fell from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.28 million in October to 1.13 million in November. The October number was revised upward by 50,000 units, which exacerbated the drop. After 11 months, the pace of new-homes sales is up 10.3% from last year's record pace. "The fundamentals supporting housing demand still are quite solid," said David Seiders, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders. "Sales of new single-family homes will hit a record in 2004 despite the surprising decline reported for November." New-home sales have remained above the 1 million mark for the last 21 months.