Sales of new single-family houses in January 2010 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the US Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 11.2% below the revised December rate of 348,000 and is 6.1 percent below the January 2009 estimate of 329,000 - -  the lowest since records in the current series began in 1963.

Year over year, sales were 6.1% down from January 2009 and January's fall was the the third drop in a row. Sales in December dipped 3.9%, revised from an originally reported 7.6% decline.  Three of the four US regions showed drops in sales led by a 35% plunge in the Northeast. Purchases dipped 12% the West and 9.5% the South. They rose 2.1% in the Midwest.

The median sales price of new houses sold in January 2010 was $203,500; the average sales price was $254,500. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of January was 234,000. This represents a supply of 9.1 months at the current sales rate.

In July 2005, purchases of new homes were at an all-time high of 1.39 million.

The New York Times recently reported that after three years of plunging real estate values, after the bailouts of the bankers and the revival of their million-dollar bonuses, after the Obama administration’s loan modification plan raised the expectations of many but satisfied only a few, a large group of distressed homeowners is wondering the same thing.

New research suggests that when a home’s value falls below 75% of the amount owed on the mortgage, the owner starts to think hard about walking away, even if he or she has the money to keep paying.

In a situation without precedent in the modern era, millions of Americans are in this bleak position. Whether, or how, to help them is one of the biggest questions the Obama administration confronts as it seeks a housing policy that would contribute to the economic recovery.

Most US mortgages only have recourse to the security of the property.