WASHINGTON — Sales of new single-family homes declined 5.3% in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Nov. 26.
 
“The drop in new home sales last month comes as no surprise,” said National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Chairman Sandy Dunn, a homebuilder from Point Pleasant, WV.  “Housing starts in October and NAHB’s most recent Housing Market Index, which gauges builder sentiment about the market, were at record lows. And the extreme turmoil in the financial markets in October definitely undermined consumer confidence and served as a drag on demand for housing.”
 
Although the new home sales rate declined in October, the Commerce Department reported that homebuilders are making progress in reducing the number of unsold units on the market, said NAHB’s Chief Economist David Crowe. “The number of new homes for sale dropped from 414,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis to 381,000. Builders are doing what they need to do to get the market moving again, including cutting prices to the bone, offering incentives and decreasing production,” he said.
 
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