Sales of new U.S. homes fell by more than 15% in March as the coronavirus pandemic weighed on buyer traffic. New home sales dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 627,000, according to the monthly report from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The larger decrease compared to the March decline in existing-home sales is a reflection of the data that guide the two reports. "Because new home sales are based on contract signings, an early step in the home buying process, they showed a larger decline than existing home sales data, which came out earlier this week," said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com.