Home Sales Are Down In October

Sales of new single-family homes fell in October for the second time in the last three months, but still represent a healthy gain compared to a year earlier.

The lower-than-expected sales fell 1.7 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 797,000 units, according to the departments of Commerce and Housing and Urban Development. The October drop was buffered somewhat by a revised 2.5 percent gain in September to 811,000 units, previously reported as a 0.2 percent decline. Likewise, the October sales rate was 12.9 percent above the pace in October 1996.

Analysts credit low mortgage rates and the shortest supply of homes in a generation for helping to buoy the market this year.