Washington, DC, November 24--New home sales unexpectedly rose 0.2 percent in October to 1.226 million at an annual rate, the third highest ever, as hiring improved and borrowing costs fell.
Sales of single-family homes rose from a revised 1.224 million rate in September that was higher than first reported, the Commerce Department said in Washington. The median selling price jumped to $221,800 from $203,300 the previous month and is up 14 percent from a year earlier.
Sales of new and existing homes will reach a record this year before higher borrowing costs start to reduce demand in 2005, according to a forecast from the National Association of Realtors.
Economists forecast sales of 1.2 million at an annual rate in October after a previously reported 1.206 million for September.
Sales rose 12.7 percent in the West to a record 417,000 at an annual rate and 19.7 percent in the Northeast to an 85,000 rate. They fell 3.6 percent in the Midwest to a 216,000 rate and fell 9.1 percent in the South to 508,000 at an annual rate.
The number of new homes for sale rose to 412,000 last month from 408,000 in September. The median number of months that new homes have been for sale slipped to 3.8 months from 3.9 months.
The inventory of new homes for sale rose to a 4.1 months supply from 4 months in September, the Commerce Department said. Forty-three percent of the new homes sold at $250,000 or more last month, and 33 percent sold at $300,000 or more, both records, according to Bloomberg data.
