US DATA: Dec new home sales +17.5% to 329k SAAR, above the 300k rate
expected and following mixed revisions to the previous two month. A
71.9% jump in sales in the West region was the key factor. The Commerce
Department cited no special factors in the increase. Sales were also up
in the South and Midwest, but fell in the Northeast. The supply of new
homes for sale -2.6% to 190k. As a result of the sales jump and supply
drop, the months supply plunged to 6.9 months at the current sales pace
from 8.4 months in Nov. The median sales price +12.1% to $241,500 in
Dec, +8.5% yr/yr. For 2010 as a whole, there were a record low 321,000
new home sales, down from 375,000 in 2009.