New home sales dropped in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 411,000 units.  This was down 4.6 percent from the revised rate in January, downgraded from the 437,000 originally reported to 431,000.  February sales were 12.3 percent above the 366,000 reported for February 2012.  On a non-seasonally adjusted basis there were 33,000 new homes sold during the month compared to 30,000 in both January and in February 2012.

The new home sales data was released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

At the end of February there were 152,000 new homes for sale compared to 146,000 a year earlier.   However, because of the increase in the rate of sales the current inventory represents a 4.4 month supply compared to 4.8 months in February 2012.  Eight-three thousand units in the current inventory are under construction while 43,000 are complete.

The median price of homes sold in February was $246,800 and the average price was $313,700.  The respective prices one year earlier were $239,900 and $274,000.

Regional sales were mixed.  In the Northeast the monthly change was -13.3 percent and sales were down on an annual basis by 10.3 percent.  The rate of sales in the Midwest was up 13.7 percent month-over-month and 18.4 percent year-over-year.  The South posted negative numbers of 9.7 percent for the month and 5.6 percent for the year and the West, while down 2.1 percent from January has increased an impressive 54.9 percent since the same period in 2012.