A record-setting surge in prices contributed to a double-digit decline in the
sales rate of new homes in March, according to a Census Bureau report.
Sales fell 14.5 percent from an upwardly revised February rate, and dropped
13.3 percent year-over-year.

New home sales plummeted 14.5 percent from February to March, falling to July 2013 levels with a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 384,000 units. Sales in all four regions of the country declined year-over-year, casting doubt on the housing market's ability to recover from the long winter lull.

The March pace was 13.3 percent less than the 443,000-unit rate of new home sales in March 2013, according to the April 23 Census Bureau report. The report also revised February's sales level upward to 449,000 units, from the original estimate of 411,000.

The median price of a home sold in March reached a record $290,000, an 11.2 percent gain over February. The previous high, set in March 2007 during the housing boom, was $262,600. The average price for a new home was $334,200. In contrast, the median price in March 2013 was $257,500, and the average was $300,200.

Of the four national sales regions, only the Northeast saw an improvement on a monthly basis, as sales rose 12.5 percent from February. Annual sales fell 22.9 percent in that region, and sales in the Midwest were down 21.5 percent from February and 17.7 percent year-over-year. In the South, sales fell 14.4 percent for the month and 3.8 percent on an annual basis; in the West, new home sales decreased 16.7 percent and 27.9 percent for the two periods respectively.

An estimated 193,000 new homes were available for sale at the end of March, a 6.0-month supply based on the slowed rate of sales. In February, the 187,000 homes in the inventory constituted a 5.0-month supply at that month's sales rate. Inventories have remained close to 190,000 units since the year began, improving from a year earlier, when a 4.2-month supply of homes – about 154,000 – were available for sale.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, an estimated 36,000 new homes were sold in March compared to 37,000 in February and 41,000 in March 2013.