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New home sales came in weak once again in November, further underlining the market's shakiness heading into 2015.
Sales of newly built single-family properties fell 1.6 percent month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 438,000 in November, according to a report from the Commerce Department.
Economists in a survey by Econoday had expected sales would pick up slightly to a rate of 460,000, while application data collected by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) pointed to an annual sales pace of 401,000.
October's sales rate was revised down to 445,000, meaning the month actually saw a decrease as opposed to the slight increase that was originally recorded.
New home sales have been weak throughout all of 2014, despite upward trends in consumer confidence and declining mortgage interest rates in the last few months.
One of the top reasons cited by experts for housing's decline this year is the ongoing tight credit environment, which commentators say has locked out all but the highest-profile mortgage applicants.
Another headwind is the lack of available inventory. According to the Commerce Department, the seasonally adjusted estimate of new homes for sale at the end of November was 213,000, representing a months' supply of 5.8 at the current sales rate.
Those challenges aren't just hitting the new home market. On Monday, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that home resales were also down in November, falling 6.1 percent from October.
Month-to-month, new home sales were down in all regions except the West, which posted a 14.8 percent gain to a rate of 124,000. Sales were down 12.0 percent in the Northeast, 6.3 percent in the Midwest, and 6.4 percent in the South.
