U.S. new home sales increase by 1.3% in October

According to the Economics Department of RBC, sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. increased by 1.3% to a seasonally-adjusted annualized rate of 307K in October, from September’s pace of 303K (initially reported as 313K.) Market expectations going into the report were for a pace of 313K, which would have represented a flat reading based on the initially reported pace for September. October’s increase in the pace of home sales follows a 3.4% increase last month, and represents the fastest pace of sales since May. Increased sales activity combined with an unchanged number of new homes available for sale to push months’ supply of unsold home down to 6.3 from the 6.4 seen in September (initially reported as 6.2.)