Having suddenly dropped 11.5 percent in September, the seasonally adjusted pace of new single-family home sales in the U.S. jumped 10.7 percent to 495,000 in October, which is 4.9 percent higher versus the same time last year. Keep in mind that the pace was running 21 percent higher on a year-over-year basis in August.
The annual pace of new single-family home sales as measured in October peaked at 1,336,000 in 2005, 170 percent higher than last month.
And in terms of inventory, the number of new single-family homes for sale across the county is currently 226,000, up 1.3 percent from the month before, 8.7 percent higher versus the same time last year, and the highest September inventory since 2009.
In the West, the pace of new home sales dropped 0.9 percent in September and is now running 2.6 percent lower versus the same time last year.