P.M. BRIEFING : Sales of New Homes Down 5%

Sales of new homes fell 5% in March, their fourth consecutive monthly decline, the government reported today.

The Commerce Department said new single-family homes were sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 574,000 units in March after dropping a revised 1.5% in February. Sales originally were reported to have risen 3.1% in February.

The March level of sales was the lowest since an annual rate of 556,000 units a year earlier. Sales began to pick up in mid-1989 as mortgage interest rates declined, peaking at 741,000 units last July.

But mortgage rates returned to double-digit level in January and ranged between 10.22% and 10.34% in March.

The Commerce Department said the median price of a new home fell 1.4% to $123,200, its lowest level since a $123,000 price tag last October.