New home sales slump to 18-year low

Sales of newly constructed homes fell in October to the
lowest annual rate since 1991, according to government numbers released today. New
home sales fell 5.3 percent nationwide from September to October this year. The
current rate of 433,000 sales annually is 40 percent lower than last year’s
rate. Economists had predicted that the October rate would be 450,000 homes. At
the current pace of sales, it would take more than 11 months to sell off the
existing inventory.