New-home sales increased last month by 1.3 percent to an annual sales rate of 307,000 from September's downwardly revised revised rate of 303,000 homes sold. Compared to October 2010 new home sales were up 8.9 percent as reported by the Census Bureau.

There were about 162,000 new homes on the market by the end of October. That represented a 6.3-month supply at the current rate of sale. The median sale price was $212,300.