New Home Sales Rise to Five-Year High
New home sales increased 9.6% in January, the biggest rise in more than five years, the Commerce Department reported Feb. 26.
Sales rose to an annual rate of 468,000 homes, the most since July 2008, from a 427,000 rate the prior month. The median selling price rose 0.6% from a year ago, to $260,100.
The rate topped economists’ highest forecast, Bloomberg News reported.
“Overall, despite the weather, consumer confidence is holding in OK,” Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, told Bloomberg News. “We’ll start to see home sales trend up again.”
Purchases increased in three regions, led by a 73.7% increase in the Northeast, the largest since July 2012.
Rising home sales can mean more business for flatbed trucking companies, which haul building materials, and for dry van freight carriers, which haul household appliances and furniture.
