New home sales show November improvement

After slipping last month, data from the Commerce Department shows that the sales of newly built homes rebounded slightly in November, as the overall economy continued to improve.

According to the report, newly built homes sold at an annual pace of 290,000 during the month, up 5.5 percent compared to last month. While the rate was 21.2 percent off of the year-ago pace, those numbers were inflated by the federal tax credit.

Prices of new homes have also continued to gain. According to the report, the median sales price of new homes sold during the month was $213,000.

The increase of sales has also helped reduce the available inventory of new homes. At the -current sales rate, there is an 8.2-month supply of new homes nationwide.

The Houston real estate market has fared far better than the national market in terms of its bloated inventory of properties. According to the Houston Association of Realtors, there was just a 7.6-month supply of single-family properties available at the end of November, down significantly from the 9.5 months found on the national level.