New-home sales rose 20 percent in 2012, the government said Friday. That is the largest annual gain since 1983.

The year 2012 was the third-slowest year in terms of new-home sales since the government began tracking the number in 1963.

FLOYD NORRIS

Notions on high and low finance.

So it goes in the housing market these days. As my column in Friday’s paper noted, the housing market these days is not good. But it is getting better at an impressive rate.

The government estimated that 367,000 new homes were sold last year, up from 306,000 a year earlier. That year was the worst ever. The second worst was 2010. The fourth worst was 2009.

The five highest years were from 2002 through 2006, with 2005 the best. Sales in 2012 were less than 30 percent of that record level.

One statistic that is back to normal is the age of new homes that have been completed but not yet sold. The latest report puts it at 4.6 months, which is (just) within the range of figures reported before the crisis began. At the worst, in early 2010, the average such house was 14.4 months old.

The number of new homes for sale, including houses not yet built, is estimated at 151,000. That is up from the low of 143,000 reached last summer, but far below anything seen before the crash.

The headlines on Friday’s report say the sales rate slipped in December. That is based on seasonal adjustments that are are notably imprecise, and may not justify much attention.

Article source: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/25/new-home-sales-soar-and-remain-low/?partner=rss&emc=rss