2019.11.2614:27:00UTC+00U.S. New Home Sales Pull Back From Upwardly Revised Level

With revised data showing U.S. new home sales spiked in September compared to the previously reported decrease, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing new home sales pulled back in the month of October.

The Commerce Department said new home sales fell by 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 733,000 in October after surging up by 4.5 percent to an upwardly revised rate of 738,000 in September.

Economists had expected new home sales to jump by 1.1 percent to a rate of 709,000 from the 701,000 originally reported for the previous month.

With the upward revision, new home sales in September were at their highest level since hitting 778,000 in July of 2007.

The pullback in new home sales in October came as sales in the Northeast plunged by 18.2 percent to a rate of 27,000. New home sales in the South also tumbled by 3.3 percent to a rate of 436,000.

On the other hand, the report said new home sales in the West soared by 7.1 percent to rate of 195,000 and new home sales in the Midwest jumped by 4.2 percent to rate of 75,000.

The Commerce Department said the median sales price of new houses sold in October was $316,700, up 2.1 percent from $310,200 in September but down 3.5 percent from $328,300 in the same month a year ago.

The estimate of new houses for sale at the end of October was 322,000, representing 5.3 months of supply at the current sales rate.

A separate report released by the National Association of Realtors last Thursday showed existing home sales in the U.S. rebounded by more than expected in the month of October.

NAR said existing home sales jumped by 1.9 percent to an annual rate of 5.46 million in October after tumbling by 2.5 percent to a revised rate of 5.360 million in September.

Economists had expected existing home sales to surge up by 1.4 percent compared to the 2.2 percent slump originally reported for the previous month.