New Home Sales Defy Expectations and Retreat in October

Mortgage News Daily comments New Home Sales Defy Expectations and Retreat in October.

New home sales were expected to make a strong showing in October; the consensus of analysts polled by Econoday was for a sharp increase from the September level of 553,000 to 575,000 units. Instead, there was a steep decline, amplified by a major upward revision to the September estimate.

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimate that October sales of newly constructed homes were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 544,000 units, falling well below the lowest of analysts' projections. The result was a decline of 8.9 percent from the restated September rate, an upward revision to 597,000 units.

The September revision gave new home sales their first uptick since May. With that single exception sales have declined steadily from the 653,000 estimate for that month and the October number lags the 618,000 sales pace in October 2017 by 12 percent.