Sales of new single-family homes in September reached an annual rate of about 468,000, a decrease of 11.5% compared with the revised August rate of about 529,000 but an increase of 2.0% compared with about 459,000 in September 2014, according to estimates released jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The average asking price of new homes sold in September was $296,900; the average sales price was $364,100.
As of September, there were about 225,000 new U.S. homes for sale – about a 5.8-month supply at the current sales rate.
The overall decrease was due in part to seasonal factors and a lack of inventory, but it includes an unusual drop in the number of new homes sold in the Northeast.
New home sales in the Northeast dropped a remarkable 61.8% in September compared with August. Meanwhile, the Midwest, South and West posted month-over-month decreases of 8.3%, 8.7% and 6.7%, respectively.