The decrease followed an upward revision to the sales rate for the previous month, and the sales pace was consistent with the narrow range in new-home sales displayed since the middle of 2006.

?EUR??,,????'??The falloff in new-home sales in January largely reflected a return to more normal weather conditions, following the weather-related increase in sales late last year,?EUR??,,????'?? said National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Chief Economist David Seiders. ?EUR??,,????'??NAHB?EUR??,,????'???s monthly surveys actually have been showing modest improvements in builders?EUR??,,????'??? confidence regarding home buyer demand since last September.?EUR??,,????'??

The inventory of new homes for sale edged down in January to 536,000 units, the lowest since February 2006 and equivalent to a 6.8 months?EUR??,,????'??? supply at the January sales pace.

Completed homes for sale were nearly 33 percent of the inventory, while units still under construction represented 51 percent of the inventory and units for-sale that were permitted but not yet started represented more than 16 percent of the inventory level. The median length of time that completed homes were on the market was 4.8 months in January.

All four regions across the country posted declines in the pace of new homes sales in January. Sales for the month were down in 18.7 percent in the Northeast, 8.1 percent in the Midwest, 9.7 percent in the South and 37.4 percent in the West.