• New home sales jumped 10.8 percent month-over-month in December, to 544,000 units (SAAR), according to the Census Bureau.
• Similar to existing home sales in December, recent regulatory changes may have pushed some closings on new homes that may have otherwise occurred in November into December.
• The median seasonally-adjusted price of new homes sold fell 4.3 percent from a year earlier to $285,200, the biggest annual decline since early 2012.

New home sales jumped in December, increasing 10.8 percent from November to 544,000 units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR). It was the second-best month for new home sales in 2015, slightly behind February, which recorded 545,000 new home sales (SAAR). With the upward movement in December new home sales, new and existing home sales moved in the same direction last month for the first time since July.

The median seasonally adjusted price of new homes sold in December was $285,200, down 4.3 percent from $298,100 in December 2014, and down 3.6 percent from $295,800 in November. It was the biggest year-over-year decline in the seasonally-adjusted median sale price of new homes since early 2012. This could be a signal that new home sales are starting to trend toward more entry-level units, and away from the luxury segment where they have been focused in recent years.

That said, new home prices are still at historic highs. The seasonally adjusted median price of new homes sold last month was still 6.8 percent above the series’ pre-recession peak of $267,000, recorded in March 2007.