Statement From Commerce Under Secretary Rebecca Blank on New Home Sales in December 2009

The Commerce Department’s U.S. Bureau of the Census today released new home sales data for December 2009. Sales of new single-family houses declined 7.6 percent in December, following a drop of 9.3 percent in November.

“We’ve long known that the path to recovery would be long and difficult,” said Commerce Department Under Secretary Rebecca Blank. “New home builders have recently been facing unusually high competition from existing homes but looking ahead, low interest rates, reduced prices, and the extension and expansion of the tax incentive provide a favorable environment for gains in new home sales in the coming months.”