New home sales in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 610,000, a decrease of 17.3% compared with September and down 9.4% compared with October 2023, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The decrease follows a 4.1% month-over-month increase that came in September, when rates fell.
The median sales price of a new home sold in October was $437,300.
The average sales price was $545,800.
As of the end of the month there were about 481,000 new homes available for purchase in the U.S. That’s about a 9.5-month supply at the current sales rate.
“New Home Sales are hampered by affordability and will remain weak until mortgage rates drop,” says Molly Boesel, senior principal economist for CoreLogic, in a statement. “However, some areas of higher-than-average new home sales remain in places that are seeing an influx of professionals, such as DFW and Houston. If the incoming administration opens up federal lands to homebuilders, in an effort to kickstart the housing market, new home sales will likely start trending upward.”
Photo: Alexander Andrews