New home sales plunge 10.5 percent, sharpest drop in nearly nine years

RAW STORY
Published: Friday March 24, 2006

New-home sales recorded the steepest drop in nearly nine years during February, marking the fourth decline in six months and providing more evidence of a continuing slowdown in the housing market, the WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORTS -- excerpts:

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The Commerce Department said Friday that sales of single-family homes decreased 10.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.080 million. The decrease was the biggest since an identical slide in April 1997. The level of demand was the lowest since May 2003's 1.078 million annual rate.