Drop in new home sales double that of existing homes

In another sign that the new-home industry is getting hit harder than the market for existing homes, AP reports that in 2007 new home sales fell by over 26% versus a 13% drop in the existing home market. However, new home prices have remained (relatively) more resilient, edging up by 0.2% while existing home prices fell by 1.8%. For new homes, however, the pain was not evenly distributed, with a higher decline in the West (32.2%) and a small increase (1.6%) in the Northeast.