(Kitco News) Gold was trying to hold on to its gains after the U.S. new home sales missed expectations in December, rising 1.6% versus the expected advance of 1.9%. November numbers were also downwardly revised to a drop of 12.6%.
New home sales were at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 842,000 homes in December, the U.S. Commerce Department said on Thursday. November’s sales were revised down to a rate of 829,000 units.
The market consensus called for sales to advance to 865,000 units in December.
On an annual basis, new home sales were up 15.2% from last year’s estimate of 731,000 units.
Gold tried to keep its morning gains as the data came out. April Comex gold futures were last trading at $1,858.80 an ounce, up 0.54% on the day after reaching a daily high of $1,866.30.
Overall, 811,000 new homes were sold in 2020, which is 18.8% more than in 2019, according to the report.
Looking at home prices, the report said that the median sales price for homes sold last month was $355,900 while the average price was $394,900.
The inventory of houses for sale as of the end of December was at 302,000, representing a 4.3-month supply at current sales rate.
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