Purchases of new homes were higher than anticipated last month, providing further evidence the market may be stabilizing, Bloomberg reported.

Sales decreased 0.6 percent to an annual pace of 356,000 after a 358,000 rate in February that was stronger than previously estimated, the U.S. Commerce Department said today. The median sales price decreased 12 percent from March 2008, while inventories of unsold homes fell to a seven-year low.

“We expect sales to start trending up again in coming months,” James O’Sullivan, a senior economist at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Conn., told Bloomberg before the report was released.

Economists had forecast that new home sales would be unchanged at a 337,000 annual pace, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 68 economists. The forecasts ranged from 310,000 to 375,000.

The median price of a new home decreased to $201,400, the lowest level since December 2003.

Sales of new homes were down 31 percent from March 2008. New homes sales reached a record 1.389 million in July 2005.

The 5.2 percent decrease in inventories exceeded the decline in sales. The number of homes for sale fell to a seasonally adjusted 311,000, the fewest since January 2002, and the supply of homes at the current sales rate dropped to 10.7 months’ worth, the lowest level in eight months.

Sales in March were led by a 15 percent surge in the West. Purchases plunged 32 percent in the Northeast. They were also down in the Midwest and were little changed in the South.

In other economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department said today that orders for durable goods decreased 0.8 percent, compared with the drop of 1.5 percent predicted economists surveyed by Bloomberg.