The housing market’s continuing recovery saw a big boost this week, with the release of a new report that showed a surge in July new home sales. Here’s the story from USA Today.
Americans stepped up their purchases of new homes in July, with sales surging in the Northeast.
The Commerce Department says new-home sales rose 5.4% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 507,000, recovering from a slide in purchases in June.
Buyers have crowded into the housing market this year. Backed by solid job growth over the past two years and relatively low mortgage rates, sales of new homes jumped 21.2% through the first half of 2015, although the government sales report is volatile on a monthly basis.
New-home purchases climbed 23.1% in the Northeast, with smaller gains in the South and West. Sales slumped in the Midwest.
Separately, Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index has risen 5% in June from a year earlier.
Much of the additional demand has emerged for a healthier jobs market and low mortgage rates. Employers added 3.1 million jobs last year and are on pace to add 2.5 million jobs this year.
