New U.S. Home Sales Leap to Record High

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sales of new U.S. homes surged well past expectations in May to a record high, as generally rising mortgage interest rates did little to restrain home buying, a government report showed on Thursday.

Sales of new homes jumped 14.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.369 million units from an upwardly revised 1.192 million in April, the Commerce Department said. It was the biggest monthly climb since April 1993.

Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting sales to rise more modestly to 1.12 million units from the originally reported 1.093 million pace on the strength of mortgage applications.

Sales of new homes reached a record high 663,000 annual rate in the South, the region with the greatest volume of activity. They rose to a 121,000 rate in the Northeast, the highest level since January 1989.


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Those common interest housing units are just jumping off the shelves, no matter how many stories there are in the press about taking away people's pets and tearing down their flags. Go figure.