WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Sales of new single-family houses in the United States fell from a five-year peak while prices continued to rise last month, the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Tuesday.

　　Sales of new single-family houses in November dropped 2.1 percent from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 464, 000 units. The revised October rate of 474,000 was the highest since July 2008.

　　Meanwhile, the median sales price of new houses sold in November was 270,900 U.S. dollars, up 4.5 percent from the prior month or 10.6 percent from a year ago.

　　U.S. housing market has shown further signs of strength in recent months. Economists believe that new home sales, though accounting for a smaller share than the existing home sales in the housing market, still have an important impact on job creation and household consumption.