WASHINGTON -- New-homes sales plummeted by 10.9% in January, the biggest drop in seven years, as Americans' worries about the nation's economy overwhelmed the attraction of cheaper mortgage rates.
The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that sales of new single-family homes declined last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 921,000 units. That followed a 14.9% rise in December, which pushed sales to a record monthly rate of 1.03 million.