New Home Sales For the West Down 22.1%

According to today's Census Bureau report regarding new home sale (download xls) new home sales were down 22.1% for the west from 439,000 units to 342,000. Seasonally new home sales always decrease in Nov. and Dec so it's hard to tell if it's really a sign of a cooling housing market. Additionally new home sale for the previous month appeared surprisingly strong and surprised many top economist. Another reason for the drop in new home sales may be due to the highest mortgage rates since July of 2002.