The following is the unedited transcript of the news release from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Sales of new one-family houses in March 2009 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 356,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 0.6 percent (±19.0%)* below the revised February rate of 358,000 and is 30.6 percent (±10.7%) below the March 2008 estimate of 513,000.

The median sales price of new houses sold in March 2009 was $201,400; the average sales price was $258,000. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of March was 311,000. This represents a supply of 10.7 months at the current sales rate.

Available at:

http://www.census.gov/const/newressales.pdf