Weak winter sales, but the absolute number of homes in inventory did go down again and is well off the highs.

A modest pickup in the sales rate will now translate into a larger drop in the number of months of inventory.

The median price is more a function of which category of houses are selling.

The first quarter is looking weak domestically. Whether GDP goes negative or not will be a function of export strength.

New Home Sales Take Biggest Fall in Nearly 13 Years

(Reuters) New U.S. single-family home sales fell 2.8 percent in January to the lowest rate in nearly 13 years while the median sales price slipped and the housing overstock shrank, according to a government report on Wednesday that delivered more grim news for the ailing housing sector.

AP
New home sales fell to an annual rate of 588,000 from an upwardly revised rate of 605,000 in December, the Commerce Department said.

Economists polled by Reuters were expecting January sales to fall to an annual rate of 600,000 from the December previously reported rate of 604,000.

In January, the median sales price for a new home fell 15.1 percent $216,000 from $254,400 a year ago.