New Home Sales Up 17.5%

New home sales rose dramatically in December 2010 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 329,000! This represents at 17.6% increase over the November rate. The most substantial increase occurred in the Western region, where estimated sales rose from 64,000 in November to 110,000. Nationwide, inventory of new homes dropped from 8.4 months in November to 6.9 months in December.