New home sales in the United States fell in October as typical mortgage rates reached their highest levels this year. Sales of newly constructed homes fell 5.6% in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 679,000, from a revised rate of 719,000 in September, according to a joint report from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Census Bureau. Sales were up 17.7% from a year ago. This was below analysts’ expectations of an annualized sales pace of 723,000. While sales of existing homes have been trending down since February and are on pace to be the worst in 30 years, new construction homes ... (full story)