The U.S. Commerce Department announced on Thursday that the sales of new single-family homes fell 0.7 percent m-o-m to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 733, 000 units in October.

Economists had forecast the sales pace of 709,000 last month.

September’s sales pace was revised up to 738,000 units from the originally reported 701,000 units.

According to the report, new home sales in the South, the largest area, decreased 3.3 percent m-o-m in October, while sales in the Northeast tumbled 18.2 percent m-o-m. At the same time, sales of new homes in the West surged 7.1 percent m-o-m and sales in the Midwest climbed 4.2 percent m-o-m.

In y-o-y terms, new home sales recorded a 31.6 percent surge in October.