New home sales continued their recent pattern of advancing and retreating in alternate months.  The Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development said that sales of newly constructed homes were on the offense in November, rising 5.2 percent after a 1.9 percent loss in October.  Sales were estimated at an annual rate of 592,000 units compared to a rate of 563,000 the previous month.  The sales report said the October number was revised, but the revision was apparently lost in rounding.

Sales continued to outstrip those during the same month in 2015.  The recent number was up 16.5 percent from the estimated sales of 508,000 a year earlier.

Analysts had expected November sales to improve on October's, but they undershot the mark.  A poll by Econoday found a consensus of 580,000 units with a range from 570,000 to 600,000.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis there were an estimated 41,000 homes sold in November.  Sales in October were estimated at 45,000 units.

At the end of the reporting period there were 253,000 homes available for sale (unadjusted).  This was an estimated supply at the current rate of sales of 5.1 months.  Homes sold during the month were marketed for a median of 3.2 months. Only 14,000 of the 41,000 homes sold during the month had been completed.

The median price of a home sold in November was $305,400 and the average was $359,900.  Both numbers were down from a year earlier when the respective prices were $317,000 and $376,000.

Sales in the Northeast were unchanged from October but up 22.2 percent on an annual basis.  Sales jumped by 43.8 percent in the Midwest, bringing them 39.4 percent higher on an annual basis.

The South was the only region to decline from the previous month, down 3.2 percent while remaining 13.4 percent higher year-over-year.  The West saw sales rise 7.7 percent and 10.8 percent for the two earlier periods.