Commerce Department Report Indicates Home Sales Dropped In October

New home sales dropped 0.3 percent last month, according to a Commerce Department report released on Wednesday. Single family home sales fell “slightly” in October. Some economists feel that the recent real estate statistics cast a shadow on what had been considered one of the brighter spots in the economy, according to Reuters.

Government data relating to new home sales are reportedly subject to “substantial revisions.” The Commerce Department cuts it previously released estimate for September home sales from 389,000 to 369,000. The housing market report also noted that the real estate realm is still in recovery mode.

BNP Paribas economist Yelena Shulyatyeva had this to say about the new home sales report:

“Despite the downward revisions, new home sales and the housing market in general are on the right path. It’s just that progress will be slow.”

The housing sales data in the most recent Commerce Department report indicates the pace of single family home purchases is below the statistics reported in May. Stocks reportedly “edged lower” after the release of the report. The fact that business investors may also fear lawmakers might not be able to ink a deal to keep America from falling off the fiscal cliff may also have been a factor in the stock market dip.

The real estate sales report also indicated that the median purchase price of a single family home was 5.7 percent higher in October 2012 than it was at the same time last year. The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that application activity for both purchases and refinancing dropped 0.9 percent last week.