Sales volume of new single- family houses in the United States slipped in December from the prior month, but were still much higher than a year earlier, the U. S. Commerce Department reported on Friday.

Sales of new single-family houses in December declined to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 369,000 units, down 7.3 percent from November but up 8.8 percent from December 2011.

Meanwhile, the median sales price of new houses sold in December edged up to 248,900 U.S. dollars from 245,600 dollars in November.

The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of December was 151,000 units, which represented a supply of 4. 9 months at the current sales rate.

For the whole year of 2012, an estimated total of 367,000 new homes were sold, 19.9 percent higher than the 2011 figure of 306, 000, the report noted.

Economists say new home sales, though account for a smaller share than the existing home sales in the housing market, still have an outsized impact on jobs and personal consumption.