New residential sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.004 million last month, 3.2% below the revised September rate of 1.037 million and 25.4% below the October 2005 rate of 1.346 million. The U.S. Commerce Department and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly released the data on Nov. 29.
Economists generally expected the October 2006 slowdown.
In October, the median price of houses sold during the month was $248,500. The average price was $309,700 for a new, single-family residence. At month's end, the seasonally adjusted number of new houses for sale was 558,000, a seven-month supply.
