By Jann Swanson | Mortgage News Daily
Sales of newly constructed homes, had a strong start in 2016 but flattened out toward the end of the year and ended with a dismal December. Now 2017 has also started on a positive note. The Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported sales were up in January by 3.7 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 555,000 units. Sales in December, originally estimated at 536,000 unites were revised down to 535,000. The January sales were 5.5 percent higher than sales a year earlier of 526,000. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis there were 41,000 homes sold during the month compared to 38,000 in December.
