The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported Monday morning that sales of new homes in September fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 468,000, a decrease of 11.3% from the upwardly revised August rate of 529,000 and an increase of 2% compared with the September 2014 rate of 459,000. The consensus estimate from a survey of economists expected a rate of around 549,000.

The revision to the August rate added 7,000 to the month’s total, making the September drop just that much worse. The August rate was the highest in more than seven years.

At the peak in 2005, new home sales posted a seasonally adjusted annual rate of nearly 1.4 million.

The Census Bureau also reported that the median sales price for new homes sold in September rose nearly $4,200 to $296,900 and the average sales price was $364,100. At the end of September, the number of new homes for sale totaled 225,000 and represented a supply of 5.8 months at the current sales rate.

In September, 51% of the estimated 36,000 monthly sales were for homes priced at less than $300,000. The percentage is flat compared with August. Sales of homes priced between $300,000 and $399,999 dropped by six points to 19% of all sales. Sales of homes in the range of $400,000 to $499,999 rose from 11% of all sales to 18%, and sales decreased month over month from 7% to 6% for homes sold in a range of $500,000 to $749,999. Home sales for properties priced above $750,000 rose by a percentage point and accounted for 5% of all new home sales in September.

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