New home sales up in December — and in 2005

New home sales were up nationwide in December over November, according to federal data released Friday morning. Sales of new one-family houses in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,269,000 — a 2.9 percent increase over the November rate of 1,233,000 and 17 percent above the December 2004 rate of 1,247,000. The median sales price of new houses sold in December, according to the federal data, was $221,800 and the average sales price was $272,900. The feds estimate that 1,282,000 new homes were sold nationwide in 2005, a 6.6 percent increase over the 2004 sales number.