Sales of new U.S. single-family homes dropped in September and data for the prior month was revised lower, more evidence that higher mortgage rates are choking the housing market, Bloomberg News reported. New home sales decreased 10.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 603,000 units last month, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday. August's sales pace was revised down to 677,000 units from the previously reported 685,000 units. Sales tumbled 20.2% in the densely populated South and fell 0.7% in the West. But they rose 4.3% in the Midwest and surged 56.0% in the Northeast. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast new home sales, which account for about 10% of U.S. home sales, declining to a rate of 585,000 units. Sales plummeted 17.6% on a year-on-year basis in September. They peaked at a rate of 993,000 units in January 2021, which was the highest level since the end of 2006. Data yesterday showed home prices logged their second straight monthly decline in August, resulting in a considerable slowdown in the annual pace of increase in house prices. Sales of previously owned homes fell for an eighth straight month in September, while homebuilding dropped, reports showed last week.
