New Home Sales fall in October - Number of Homes for Sale at 4-Year Low

New Residential Sales fell by 5.3% percent in October from September’s revised 457K the Census Bureau reported today. Today’s number of 433K is 40.1 percent lower than the sales volume seen one year ago. The sale of new single-family homes has not been this low since the 401K seen in January 1991.

The number of homes for sale at the end of October was also at multi-year lows. It was reported that 381K new homes were for sale across the United States, the lowest since February 2004. However, the reduction in inventories was not enough to reduce the number of months it would take to clear the overstock. At the current sales pace it would take 11.1 months, up from 10.9 months at the end of September. This is the highest number seen since March of this year.

Median sales price was down to $218 000 in October, lower than the 221 700 seen one month previous. The median sales price has not been this low since September 2004 when it stood at £211 600. One year ago, the median sales price stood at $234 300. The average sales price was also down to $272 300 from 283 700 in September.