?EUR??,,????'??After a record-setting sales pace in 2005, home builders are seeing an orderly cooling-down process as the supply-demand balance shifts and buyers gain more leverage,?EUR??,,????'?? said David Pressly, president of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). ?EUR??,,????'??While many builders are now offering more sales incentives to adjust to this changing environment, housing demand continues to remains quite healthy by historical standards.?EUR??,,????'??

The median sales price of new houses sold in January 2006 was $238,100; the average sales prices was $291,600. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of January was 528,000. This represents a supply of 5.2 months at the current sales rate.

?EUR??,,????'??With sales volume off, the inventory level has edged higher, but this rise is nothing to be alarmed about because the fastest growing component of the inventory run-up relates to homes that have been permitted but not yet been started, which jumped 60 percent from this time last year,?EUR??,,????'?? said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders.