Single-family house sales drop nationwide

Sales of new single-family houses dropped more than 10 percent nationwide in February, according to federal data released Friday morning. Sales of new single-family houses in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,080,000, according to estimates from the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. That’s a 10.5 percent drop from the revised rate for January, and a 13.4 percent drop from February 2005. The median sales price nationwide for a new single-family home, according to the federal data, was $230,400 in February; the average sales price was $296,700.