Home sales dropped in October

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Sales of new single-family homes fell 8.1 percent in October compared with September, the U.S. Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Home sales fell to 283,000 on an annual basis after reaching 308,000 in September. October's sales also came in 28.5 percent below the 396,000 posted in the same month a year ago.

The U.S. Federal Reserve, in minutes of its Nov. 3 policy meeting released Tuesday, said the housing market in August and September "remained exceptionally weak."

Despite historically low interest rates for mortgage contracts "consumer pessimism … the depressed rate of household formation and tight underwriting standards for mortgages" continued to drag on the market, the Fed said.

The Commerce Department said the median sales price for a new home sold in October was $194,400. At the end of the month, there were 202,000 homes on the market, an 8.6-month supply at the current rate of sales.