American new home sales in October fell to their lowest level in 17 years, according to data released by the U.S. government Wednesday.
The U.S. Census Bureau said the sale of new houses tumbled 5.3 per cent in October to an annualized rate of 433,000. That compared to 457,000 one month earlier and was the weakest showing since 1991, the federal agency said.
In addition, the 24,000 reduction was a far worse result than economists had expected for the month.
A dramatically weakening economy combined with plunging consumer confidence have American buyers putting the possible purchase of a new or existing home on hold.
"Many potential home buyers appear to have withdrawn from the market due to the stock market collapse and deteriorating economic conditions," said Lawrence Yun, an economist with the Washington-based National Association of Realtors, when that group released existing home sales figures earlier in the week.
The number of existing homes in the United States that were sold in October fell 3.1 per cent compared to September and was 1.6 per cent below the annualized rate in October 2007.
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