Sales of new US homes rebounded in January after December's fall, suggesting that severe weather has not totally dampened the US property market.
Commerce Department figures released on Wednesday showed sales of new homes across the country rose 9.6 per cent last month to an annual rate of 468,000.
January sales were up 2.2 per cent from a year earlier.
New home sales had fallen around four per cent in December, with analysts blaming the impact of harsh weather that swept much of the country.
But buyers were clearly back in January, even as more storms buffeted many areas.
New houses for sale remained tight at 4.7 months' supply, but prices were slightly lower. The median price in January was $US260,100 ($A289,300), compared to the average for the last quarter of 2013 of $US266,400.
Jim O'Sullivan, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics, said the January sales numbers were better than expected.
However, he added, "We will need to see a rebound in the housing market index and existing home sales data to be confident that the recovery in home sales is getting back on track".
