New homes sales rose in October

WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. new home sales rose 6.2 percent in October after dropping a month ago, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Economists predicted an increase of sales to 407,000 new homes on a seasonally adjusted annual basis. Sales rose from 405,000 in September to 430,000, a jump of 14.9 percent over October 2008.

The department said the median sales price for new homes in September was $212,200 with an average sales price of $261,100.

With 239,000 homes on the market, 6.7 months of inventory is available at the current sales rate, the report said.