Having jumped a downwardly revised 13.2 percent in September, the seasonally adjusted rate of new single-family home sales in the U.S. increased 6.2 percent in October to an annual rate of 685,000 sales which is 18.7 percent above the pace at the same time last year.
The October pace was 4.7 percent above the long-term average for this time of the year (654,000), at least preliminarily, but still 48.7 percent below the record-high pace of 1,336,000 as measured in October which was set in 2005.
At the same time, the number of new single-family homes for sale across the county ticked up to 282,000 which is the most available inventory since June of 2009 and 13.7 percent higher versus the same time last year.
And in the West, the annual pace of new single-family home sales rose 6.4 percent to 167,000 in October which is 20.1 percent higher versus the same time last year.