New single-family home sales surprised in October, jumping to the same levels seen during the spring/summer selling season according to the latest housing data released by the Census Bureau.

Monthly sales of new single-family homes increased 25.4 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted rate of 444,000, up from a revised sales rate of 354,000 in September. On an unadjusted basis, new home sales were up 29.6 percent from the previous month.

The seasonally adjusted rate of sales in October was 21.6 percent higher than the estimated sales rate of 365,000 units in October of 2012. Sales were 20.7 percent higher than in October of last year on an unadjusted basis.

The median sales price of the new homes sold in October was $245,800, which was down from a revised $257,400 in September. The average sales price for a new home in October was $321,700, up from a revised $313,900 in September.

Sixty-four percent of the new single-family homes sold in October were under $300,000, up from 61 percent in September.

In October of last year, the median sales price of a new home was 0.6 percent higher at $247,200, while the average sales price was 9.1 percent lower at $285,400.

All four of the national regions posted an increase in seasonally adjusted monthly sales led by a 34.0 percent gain in the Midwest followed by a 28.2 percent increase in the South.

The Northeast reported an increase of 19.2 percent while the West posted an increase of 15.2 percent.

Compared to a year ago, three of the four regions showed an improvement with the South posting the largest increase of 41.5 percent followed by the Northeast at 29.2 percent.

The Midwest posted a gain of 21.2 percent while sales in the West tumbled 14.2 percent from a year ago.

Inventory declined for the first time in ten months with new single-family homes falling to a seasonally adjusted 183,000 properties available for sale, down from 190,000 the previous month, which translates into a 4.9 months supply of inventory.

Tags: Census Bureau, new home sales, single-family homes, median sales price, average sales price

Source:
Census Bureau

Reported by Chris Moore