New home sales improved slightly in October. Sales increased from a downwardly revised 303,000 (from 313,000) in September to 307,000 in October. The Briefing.com consensus expected sales to increase to 312,000.
The October sales level is not indicative of the growth in sales expectations seen in the NAHB Housing Market Index. The component in the NAHB Index gauging current sales increased from 14 in September to 18 in October.
That would suggest sales closer to 320,000. Builders continue to manage their inventories in the face of overall weak demand. Months of supply edged lower, from 6.4 months in September to 6.3 months in October. Median home prices increased 4.0%.






