The new home sales numbers are out. "Sales of new homes in the United States fell 5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.233 million in January, the lowest in a year, the Commerce Department said Monday. The number of new homes on the market increased 2.5% to a record 528,000, representing a 5.2-months supply at the January sales pace. The months' supply is the largest in nine years."

"The growth in inventories and the slower pace of price appreciation are factors suggesting the booming housing market of the past four years is losing steam as mortgage rates rise and affordability falls. Homebuilders remain relatively upbeat about market conditions, however. Nearly 20% of the homes on the market at the end of January had not been started in construction. Another 58% are under construction."

"Sales fell in three of the four regions, with the West, climbing 11.3% to buck the trend. Sales fell 10.3% in the South, 10.8% in the Midwest and 14.9% in the Northeast."

" "The biggest decline was a 14.9 percent decrease in sales in the Northeast, which followed an even bigger 23 percent plunge in sales in December. Some economists have expressed concerns that once home sales start to slow, the big price increases of recent years could turn into sharp declines in a similar pattern to how the speculative bubble in stocks burst in 2000."