Sales of new U.S. homes fell by the largest amount in nearly nine years in February while the median price of a new home dropped for the fourth straight month.

The declines provide fresh evidence that once-booming U.S. housing market is cooling off.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that sales of new single-family homes dropped by 10.5% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 1.08 million homes.

It was the second straight monthly decline and was much bigger than the small 2% dip that economists were expecting.

The drop in new home sales followed news Thursday that sales of previously owned homes actually rose by a stronger-than-expected 5.2% last month following five straight monthly declines.