Sales of new homes in the United States fell for the fourth straight month in February, according to a new report that showed activity at a 13-year low. The U.S. Commerce Department report, released Wednesday, showed new home sales fell 1.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 590,000 units, the slowest sales pace since February 1995. The decline was slightly worse than expected. The median price of a home sold last month dropped to $244,100, down 2.7 percent from the level of a year ago. The report showed that the number of unsold homes on the market at the end February represented a 9.8 months' supply at the February sales pace, the same as in January. That was the highest inventory level in more than 26 years and is likely the result of a glut in the market caused by increasing foreclosures. Sales dropped the most in the Northeast, falling by 40.6 percent. Sales were also down in the Midwest, dropping by 6.4 percent, but posted gains in the South of 5.7 percent and 0.7 percent in the West.
