New home sales drop 7% in January as housing market gets off to slow start in 2019

The numbers: Sales of new U.S. homes in the U.S. dropped almost 7% in January, indicating the housing market got off to a slow start in early 2019 amid a partial government shutdown and patches of unusually harsh weather.

The government said sales in the final month of 2018 rose at a 652,000 annual pace instead of 621,000 as initially reported. The November rate was raised to 628,000 from 599,000.What happened: Sales fell by double digits, in percentage terms, in every region except the West. Sales jumped 28% in the western part of the U.S.The median sales price of new homes, meanwhile, fell again to $317,200. Prices were 3.8% lower vs. one year ago, reflecting a decline in demand.

The preliminary report on new home sales is often erratic and prone to large revisions as the changes in the final two months of 2018 show.Big picture: The sluggish real estate market exerted a slight drag on the U.S. economy in 2018 and it’s unlikely to help much this year, either. Builders say it’s gotten harder and more expensive to find available lots, not to mention skilled craftspeople to do the work.

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