Sales of new homes rose more slowly than expected in September, while the number of new houses on the market hit a record and median prices fell, according to a government report on Thursday that could signal cooling in the housing boom.
The Commerce Department said new single-family home sales rose 2.1 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.222 million units from 1.197 million unit pace in August, a sharp downward revision. New home sales were revised lower for June and July as well. The supply of homes available for sale shot up to a record 493,000 at the end of September, surpassing August’s high of 478,000. The median home sales price fell 5.7 percent to $215,700.
