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


Sales of new one-family houses in December 2006 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,120,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 4.8% above the revised November rate of 1,069,000, but is 11.0% below the December 2005 estimate of 1,259,000.


The median sales price of new houses sold in December 2006 was $235,000; the average sales price was $290,100. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of December was 537,000. This represents a supply of 5.9 months at the current sales rate.


An estimated 1,061,000 new homes were sold in 2006. This is 17.3 percent (±3.4%) below the 2005 figure of 1,283,000.


Available at:

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