Dive Brief:

• New home sales in October far surpassed expectations, jumping 10.7% between September and October to an annual rate of 495,000, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Reuters had predicted new single-family home sales would rise 6.8%.
• The median sales price of new homes sold in October was $281,500, down from $296,900 in September.
• The Northeast saw the greatest surge in sales, with a 135.3% jump between September and October — reaching the region's highest level since January 2010. Sales rose 8.9% in the South and 5.3% in the Midwest. They slipped 0.9% in the West.

Dive Insight:

This rally followed a major decline in new home sales in September. However, the statistic is often volatile and revised the following month — as the Commerce Department revised September's results even further down.

"October's bounce back should offer some assurance that the housing market remains on solid ground," Reuters noted of the results.

So far, housing market reports for this month have been disappointing. Homebuilder confidence unexpectedly fell three points in November to a score of 62, housing starts slipped 11% to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.06 million units — the lowest rate since March— and existing-home sales dropped 3.4% in October. The last report of the month, pending home sales results, will be released on Monday, Nov. 30.