New home sales fell 6.5% in 2011, but many economists are forecasting that home buying will rise this year.
The Census Bureau reported Thursday morning that new home purchases totaled 303,000 last year -- the lowest reading since the 1960s.
Thursday's report shows that sales fell 2.2% in December after rising three straight months.
The bureau said sales of newly built homes fell to a 307,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate from a 314,000 rate in November.
The consensus forecast of nine bank economists has new homes sales rising 10% by in 2012 to 335,000 units. The forecast published by the Economic Advisory Committee of the American Bankers Association shows home sales gaining strength over the next three quarters.
The bank economists see sales increasing from a 321,000 SAAR in the first quarter to a 350,000 rate in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Meanwhile, builders' inventories are getting lean. Home building firms had just 61,000 newly completed homes on the market in December, which represents a 6-month supply at the current sales rate.
The median sales prices for new homes dropped in December, as builders continued to slash prices. It fell 2.5% to $210,300.
Economists continue to caution that housing is a long way from fully recovering.
