New single-family home sales fell in February to a record low, with prices the lowest they have been since December 2003, the U.S. Commerce Department said today.

Sales dropped 16.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted 250,000-unit annual rate, the lowest since records began in 1963, after an upwardly revised 301,000-unit pace in January, Reuters said after the release of the report.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast new home sales edging up to a 290,000-unit pace last month from a previously reported 284,000-unit rate.

Sales declined 28 percent from February 2010.

The National Association of Realtors said Monday that sales of existing homes also dropped in February, with prices falling to a near nine-year low.

The median sales price for a new home declined 13.9 percent last month to $202,100.