New-Home Sales Flat

New-home sales were flat in September, but still close to the record pace set in June, according to a government report.The U.S. Census Bureau reported that sales of new single-family homes came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.145 million in September, down a mere 2,000 units from the August sales pace. The September data show a large jump in the average sales price of new homes but no increase in the median sales price, according to Michael Carliner, an economist at the National Association of Home Builders. "It indicates that we are having a fair amount of strength in sales in the high end of the market," he said. New-home sales were up sharply in the Northeast and the West, which are high-cost areas, while sales were down in the Midwest and the South. This year will be a record year for newly constructed homes, but the pace of new-home sales probably peaked at 1.2 million in June, the NAHB economist said.