• March new home sales fell 1.5 percent from February and were down 1.5 percent over the year, to 511,000 units (SAAR), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
• The number of newly built, unsold homes on the market in March rose 2 percent from February to 246,000 nationwide, the highest level since September 2009.
• The median price of a newly built home in March was up 3.25 percent from February but down 1.8 percent over the year, to $285,400, the lowest median sale price since September 2014.

March home sales continued the inconsistent, up-and-down trend we’ve been seeing for months now: Existing sales were up, while new home sales were down, a pattern we have seen in 9 of the past 13 months. In some good news for new home buyers, the number of new homes for sale nationwide reached the highest level since 2009 and was up in all regions covered, while new home prices fell to their lowest level since 2014. So far this year, much of the softness in national new home sales numbers has been driven by weakness in the West region. In both January and March, new home sales in the West fell more than 20 percent month-over-month. Some, but not all, of this slack has been picked up in other areas of the country: Over the year, new home sales are down 20.7 percent in the West, but up 15.4 percent in the South. The West region is home to some of the nation’s priciest and fastest-growing housing markets, and continued weakness could indicate some fatigue among home buyers who need a breather from breakneck appreciation.