US new-home sales fall in March for third straight month

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans stepped back from buying new homes in March, the third straight monthly decline as sales plunged sharply in the Western states.

New-home sales slipped 1.5 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 511,000, the Commerce Department said today. That rate has steadily dropped from 519,000 in February and 521,000 in January. Sales plummeted 23.6 percent in the West, which has been prone to volatile swings in sales as one of the nation's priciest housing markets.

The market for new housing developments has gotten off to a rocky start. Sales are still running slightly ahead of the year-to-date pace in 2015, yet supplies of new construction are mounting in a possible sign that demand is lower than many builders had hoped.

Still, some economists see the low mortgage rates and improving job market as strong enough to boost sales in the coming months.