The U.S.
Commerce Department informed on Tuesday that the sales of new single-family
homes tumbled 17.3 per cent m-o-m, the most since July 2013 (-20.2 per cent
m-o-m), to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 610,000 units in October. This represented the lowest reading since November 2022 (596,000).
Economists
had predicted a sales pace of 730,000 last month.
The September sales
pace was left unrevised at 738,000 units.
According to
the report, new home sales in the South, the largest area, plunged by 27.7 per
cent m-o-m in October to 339,000. In addition, new home sales in the West declined by 9.0 per
cent m-o-m to 152,000. Meanwhile, new home sales in the Northeast surged by 53.3
per cent m-o-m to 46,000 and those in the Midwest increased by 1.4 per cent m-o-m to 73,000.
Compared to October
2023, new home sales fell by 9.4 per cent.
The report also
revealed that the median sales price jumped by 4.7 per cent y-o-y at $437,300 in
October, while the average sales price climbed by 9.4 per cent y-o-y to $545,800.