The U.S. Commerce Department announced on Tuesday that the sales of new single-family homes dropped 4.4 percent m-o-m to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 765, 000 units in February.

Economists had forecast the sales pace of 750,000 last month.

January's sales pace was revised up to 800,000 units (+10.5 percent m-o-m) from the originally reported 764,000 units (+7.9 percent m-o-m).

According to the report, the February decline in purchases of new homes was due to decreases in the West (-17.2 percent m-o-m) and the Midwest (-7.3 percent m-o-m), which more than offset gains in the Northeast (+38.9 percent m-o-m) and the South (+1 percent m-o-m).

In y-o-y terms, new home sales recorded a 14.3 percent jump in February.