New Home Sales Abruptly Back to Flat Long-Term Trend; Prices Improve; Rates Higher

New Home Sales Abruptly Back to Flat Long-Term Trend; Prices Improve; Rates Higher

New home sales nose-dived in September , dropping by 11.5 percent from the August level. A joint release from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development puts the sale of newly constructed single family homes at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 468,000 units in September compared to a revised August rate of 529,000. Analysts' expectations ranged from 535,000 to 560,000. There was a further jolt in that the August number which originally represented a 5.7 percent increase was a significant downgrade from the original estimate of 552,000 units. September remains 2 percent above the September 2014 rate of 459,000 units. In the longer term, today's drop could be seen as a 'leveling-off' and return to the flat trend that's been intact for most of the past 2.4 years