Home Prices Drop, Mortgage Rates Rise

The median price of a new home in the United States dropped to $217,100 in September, a 9.7 percent decline from September 2005 and the biggest annual fall in more than 35 years, according to the Commerce Department. That median price was the lowest since September 2004, and the annual decline also was sharper than the 2.5 percent drop in the price for existing homes reported in September, the largest annual plunge on record.