New-home sales increased by 16.4 percent in 2013, rising to 428,000 from 368,000 in 2012, according to data released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In December 2013, they fell by 7 percent month over month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 414,000 from a November revised rate of 445,000, the report said. But on an annual basis, sales of new single-family homes increased by 4.5 percent.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau