Sales and prices of new homes continue descent

The Associated Press

In more bad news for the housing industry, sales of new homes fell in January for a third consecutive month, shrinking activity to the slowest pace in nearly 13 years. The median price of a new home dropped to the lowest in more than three years.

New-home sales fell 2.8%, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 588,000 units, the slowest since 1995, the Commerce Department said.