New Home Sales Hold Steady in March

New homes sales edged down 0.6% in March as an upward revision in the February report by 21,000 sales points to a market that may be finally bottoming out.The U.S. Census Bureau reported that sales of new single-family homes fell from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 358,000 in February to 356,000 in March. The bureau originally reported 337,000 sales in February. Economists are expecting to see a bottom in home sales soon. In a speech on Monday (April 20) Federal Reserve governor Donald Kohn said "recent data suggest that the multi-year contraction in home sales and new construction may be nearing an end." He noted, however, that house prices will continue to fall for a while due to the large inventory of unsold homes on the market. Builders have an inventory of 311,000 unsold homes, which translates into a 10.7-month supply at the current sales pace, according to Census Bureau report.