Washington — Sales of new and existing homes both dipped in February, but demand remained strong as housing continued to demonstrate few adverse effects from the economic slowdown.
Sales of new single-family homes fell by 2.4 percent last month after a steeper 5.4 percent decline in January, the Commerce Department said Monday.
Even with the back-to-back declines, sales of new homes remained at a healthy annual rate of 911,000 units in February.
Likewise, sales of existing homes were down in February, a dip of 0.4 percent, following an increase of 5.3 percent in January. The February decline left sales at a strong annual pace of 5.18 million homes.
"In the midst of all the economic mess, housing is putting in a remarkable performance," said David Seiders, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders.
Analysts attributed the continued strength to declining mortgage rates.
In the Midwest, sales fell 18.9 percent, the biggest decline since April 2000, to an annual rate of 137,000 units. Sales in the West were off 1.5 percent to an annual rate of 263,000 annual units.
Sales in the South, which account for nearly half of total new-home activity, edged up a slight 0.5 percent last month to an annual rate of 440,000 homes. Sales in the Northeast soared by 20.3 percent, the biggest gain since last October, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 71,000 homes.
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