New home sales see biggest monthly gain since 1980

Sales of new single-family homes see the biggest month-over-month increase in more than 30 years

Sales of new single-family homes saw the biggest month-over-month increase since May of 1980, according to data released today by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

New single-family home sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 444,000 in October, according to a report by the Census Bureau and HUD. That’s 25.4% above the revised September rate of 354,000 and 21.6% above October 2012’s rate of 365,000.

The October rate is also considerably higher than the 425,000 projected by economists, according to a USA Today report. However, new home construction is still less than half what it was at its pre-recession peak.

The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale in October was 183,000, according to the Census Bureau. At the current sales rate, that equates to a supply of 4.9 months. The median sales price of new houses in October was $245,800. The average sales price was $321,000.