Purchases of new U.S. houses rose more than forecast in September as discounted prices lured buyers in some parts of the country.
Sales climbed 5.7 percent to a 313,000 annual pace, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a gain to 300,000. The median price slumped 10 percent from September 2010, the biggest drop in more than two years. Another report showed demand for durable goods excluding transportation equipment climbed last month by the most since March.
The increase in home sales was paced by rising demand in the West and South, while other parts of the country slumped, showing an uneven market that is weighed down by competition from a glut of distressed, previously owned houses. Last month’s sales pace was weaker than the 323,000 new homes sold in all of 2010.
“Up slightly is faint praise,” Robert Dye, chief economist at Comerica Inc. in Dallas, said before the report. “We’re still under the black cloud of high foreclosures and depressed prices. We’re still bouncing along the bottom in terms of new homes.”
Economists’ estimates ranged from 275,000 to 320,000. The government revised August demand to 296,000 from a previously reported 295,000.
Demand for goods meant to last at least three years, excluding of airplanes and automobiles, climbed 1.7 percent in September, exceeding the 0.4 percent increase median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg, another report from the Commerce Department also showed. Total bookings fell 0.8 percent, depressed by a 26 percent plunge in planes.
