WASHINGTON — Sales of new homes fell in December for a second consecutive month, but even with the pause at the end of the year, sales for all of 2013 climbed to the highest level in five years.
US sales of new homes dropped 7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 414,000, the Commerce Department reported Monday. In November, sales had fallen 3.9 percent.
For the whole year, sales were up 16.4 percent to 428,000, the highest level since 2008.
It marked the second year that sales have risen after six consecutive annual declines as the housing industry was rocked by the collapse of a housing bubble. Sales of new homes peaked at 1.28 million in 2005.
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Economists said continued job gains and a strengthening in the overall economy should help boost sales further in 2014.
‘‘We continue to be upbeat about the outlook for new home sales,’’ said Paul Diggle, an economist at Capital Economics. ‘‘Mortgage rates are very low, in a historical context.’’
Analysts said much of the December drop probably reflected severe weather in many parts of the country.
Sales fell the most in December in the Northeast, 36.4 percent. Sales were down 8.8 percent in the West and 7.3 percent in the South. Sales rose 17.6 percent in the Midwest.
The median price was $270,200 in December, up 4.6 percent from a year before and up 0.6 percent from November.
There were 171,000 new homes on the market at the end of December, a drop of 2.8 percent from November. At the December sales pace, that would represent a five-month supply. That is lower than the six-month supply that economists view as healthy.
Housing was one of the strongest sectors of the recovery in the first half of 2013, but it hit a lull during the summer, when mortgage rates jumped on indications the Federal Reserve might start reducing the bond purchases it was making to keep long-term interest rates low.
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But analysts are looking for housing to regain some of its lost momentum as the industry enters the all-important spring buying season.
Analysts expect that continued improvements in the labor market will boost incomes and that will lead to stronger demand for homes.