The Commerce Department may report on Dec. 23 that new homes sales rose 1.7 percent in November to a 438,000 annual pace, according to the Bloomberg survey.
Existing home sales reached a 4.49 million pace in January, their lowest level since comparable records began in 1999.
Purchases of existing homes rose 44 percent in November compared with a year earlier, the biggest increase on record. The median price fell to $172,600.
The number of previously owned unsold homes on the market fell 1.3 percent to 3.52 million. At the current sales pace, it would take 6.5 months to sell those houses compared with 7 months at the end of October. The ratio is the lowest since December 2006.
The share of homes sold as foreclosures or otherwise distressed properties was 33 percent, Yun said.
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