Sales of new homes dipped slightly in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 368,000 units according to information released this morning from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The October rate is 0.3 percent below the September figure of 369,000 but is 17.2 percent higher than the estimate of 314,000 in October 2011.
The September figure represented a substantial downward revision; sales were originally reported at a rate of 389,000 units and this follows a large revision last month to the August figures. Thus despite sizable increases announced in both September and August, there has been no increase in new home sales since July.
The median price of a new home sold in October was $237,700 compared to $224,800 in October 2011. The average sales price was $278,900 compared to $258,300 one year earlier,
There are currently 147,000 new homes for sale compared to 145,000 in September and 159,000 one year earlier. Homes for sale in October represented a 4.8 month supply at the current rate of sales.
Sales in the Northeast were at an annual rate of 21,000, down 32.3 percent from the previous month but a 10.5 percent increase from October 2011. In the Midwest the annual rate of sales was 60,000, up 62.2 percent month-over-month and 17.6 percent compared to one year earlier. Sales in the South were at a rate of 176,000 units, down 11.6 percent from September and up 9.3 percent from the previous year. In the West sales increased 8.8 percent from September and 33.7 percent from October 2011 to a rate of 111,000 units.
On a non-seasonally adjusted basis sales nationally were at a rate of 29,000, unchanged from the previous month but 4,000 units higher than one year earlier. Two thousand units were sold in the Northeast, 5,000 in the Midwest, and 9,000 in the West. Nearly half the sales, 14,000, were in the South.
