2014.04.2311:11:00UTC+00U.S. New Home Sales Unexpectedly Plunge 14.5% In March

New home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly showed a substantial decrease in the month of March, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday, with sales falling to their lowest level in eight months.

The report said new home sales plunged 14.5 percent to an annual rate of 384,000 in March from the revised February rate of 449,000.

The steep drop came as a surprise to economists, who had expected new home sales to climb to a rate of 455,000 from the 440,000 originally reported for the previous month.