New home sales increased 6.2% in October as the number of homes for sale fell to a 38-year low, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.
Buyers purchased homes at a 430,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in October following an upwardly revised 405,000 rate in September, initially reported as 402,000.
Sales increased from October a year ago when homes sold at a 409,000 annual rate. It was the first year-over-year sales gain in four years.
Economists expected 410,000 new home sales in October, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.