Sales of new single-family houses in the United States posted a solid increase in October but sale prices edged down, the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Wednesday.

Sales of new single-family houses in October increased 25.4 percent from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 444, 000 units.

Meanwhile, the median sales price of new houses sold in October was 245,800 U.S. dollars, down 4.5 percent from the prior month, and was 0.6 percent lower than a year ago.

The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of October was 183,000 units, which represented a supply of 4. 9 months at the current sales rate.

U.S. housing market has shown signs of strength in recent months. Economists believe that new home sales, though accounting for a smaller share than the existing home sales in the housing market, still have an important impact on job creation and household consumption.