New Home Sales Fall to a 13-Year Low, Underscoring Housing's Steep Slump; Factory Orders Fall WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sales of new homes fell in February for the fourth straight month, pushing activity down to a 13-year low as the steep slump in housing continued. The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that new home sales dropped 1.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 590,000 units, the slowest sales pace since February 1995. The decline was slightly worse than expected.