The Commerce Commission reported on 10/25 that new home sales made an unexpected gain in September, in fact the month showed a gain of 4.8%. This is good news to mortgage brokers and bankers, though it should still be noted that this is still down 23.3% from a year ago. Analysts had expected sales to fall last month to 2.5%.

Median prices for new houses rose to $238,000, up 2.5% from August, while supply dropped 1.5%.

Gains were seen in the West (up 37.7%) and the South (0.5%). Meanwhile sales fell in the Midwest (down 19.5%) and the Northeast (down 6.6%).