US: New home sales rise 16.9% in November vs 2.9% expected

"Sales of new single‐family houses in November 2018 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 657,000," the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced on Thursday.

Key takeaways from the press release

• This is 16.9 percent above the revised October rate of 562,000, but is 7.7 percent below the November 2017 estimate of 712,000.
• The median sales price of new houses sold in November 2018 was $302,400.  The average sales price was $362,400. 
• The seasonally‐adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of November was 330,000.