Sales of newly constructed homes slumped in October to an annual rate not seen since 1991, according to government figures released Wednesday.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that new home sales fell to an annualized rate of 433,000 in October. That’s down 5.3% from the revised 457,000 annual rate recorded in September, and off more than 40% from a year ago.
“October was definitely another disappointing month for the home-building industry,” said Mike Larson, real estate analyst at Weiss Research. But he added that the decline was not surprising given the ongoing weakness in the housing market.
October’s sales pace was well below the consensus forecast of 450,000, according to economists surveyed by Briefing.com. And it was the lowest number since January 1991, when the sales rate was 401,000.
Click here to read the full article…
