aaaWings News

National new-home sales in September showed a 2.7 percent gain over revised numbers for August, but were still 33.1 percent lower than September 2007, the Commerce Department reported yesterday.

The month-to-month national increase was primarily the result of a 22.7 percent boost in new-home sales in the West, where builders are slashing prices to compete with a huge number of foreclosures on the market.

Still, new-home sales in the West were 36.4 percent below September 2007. In the Northeast, new-home sales fell 21.4 percent from August and were 65.1 percent lower than September 2007, the Commerce Department reported.

Economists expected the monthly bounce-back in September, but “home sales are fighting fierce headwinds from sharp declines in household net worth, shrinking employment levels, and periodic upward pressure on mortgage rates,” said Brian Bethune of IHS Global Insight, of Lexington, Mass.

“Offsetting this,” he said, “home valuations are much more reasonable.”

The good news for all, the boost in month-to-month sales nationally cut the inventory for sale 8.8 percent, to 10.6 months, or 394,000 houses.

“Despite the fact that builders are moving very few new homes, the slight rise in sales holds out hope that the bottom has been reached,” said Commerce Bancorp Inc. chief economist Joel L. Naroff.

“While the gain was nothing to write home about, up is an awful lot better than down,” he said. “Given how hard it is to get a mortgage these days, I will take it.”