Jan. 25 (UPI) -- The rate of new home sales deceased by 9.3 percent from November to December, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Thursday.
The Census Bureau reported a seasonally adjusted rate of 625,000 new houses sales in December 2017 after 689,000 new homes were sold a month earlier. The rate was at 548,000 last December, however.
Officials said the median sales price was $335,400 and average price was $398,900.
In a separate report, the National Association of Realtors said total existing home sales, which include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased by 1.1 percent in 2017 to 5.51 million -- more than the 5.45 million sold a year earlier.
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In December, however, the association found that existing home sales fell 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million from a revised 5.78 million in November.
Lawrence Yun, the association's chief economist, said the housing market performed well for the U.S. economy overall in 2017 and saw gains for homeowners.
"Existing sales concluded the year on a softer note, but they were guided higher these last 12 months by a multi-year streak of exceptional job growth, which ignited buyer demand," Yun said.
"At the same time, market conditions were far from perfect. New listings struggled to keep up with what was sold very quickly, and buying became less affordable in a large swath of the country. These two factors ultimately muted what should have been a stronger sales pace."
First-time buyers made up 32 percent of home sales in December -- an increase which is expected to continue into 2018.
"Rising wages and the expanding economy should lay the foundation for 2018 being the turning point towards an uptick in sales to first-time buyers," Yun said. "However, if inventory conditions fail to improve, higher mortgage rates and prices will further eat into affordability and prevent many renters from becoming homeowners."
