U.S. new home sales slide unexpectedly

WASHINGTON — After four consecutive months of increases, sales of new U.S. single-family homes took a surprise hit in September. The U.S. Commerce Department announced this week that September’s sales were down 3.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 959,000 units. August’s sales pace was revised down to 994,000 units from the preliminary 1.011 million. Economists polled by Reuters expected new home sales to rise by 2.8 percent to a rate of 1.025 million units.