Sept. new home sales fall 3.5%, after strong summer season

CHARLOTTE, NC (AP) — Sales of new homes fell by 3.5% in September to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 959,000 million units, the Commerce Department said Monday, as the housing market’s summer buying season came to a close.

The Commerce Department said Monday that despite the modest decrease, sales of new homes are up 32.1% from a year earlier.

However, the pandemic may start to weigh on the market as the colder winter months arrive and with coronavirus cases spiking across much of the U.S.