US: New home sales increased by 3.7% in December

The U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday reported that new home sales increased by 3.7% on a monthly basis in December and surpassed the analysts' estimate for an 8.7% drop. On a negative note, November's reading got revised down to 9.1% from 16.9%. 

"An estimated 622,000 new homes were sold in 2018.  This is 1.5 percent above the 2017 figure of 613,000," the Census Bureau noted in its publication. "The median sales price of new houses sold in December 2018 was $318,600.  The average sales price was $377,000."