New home sales jumped 25.4% in October, the biggest rise in 33 years, the Commerce Department reported Dec. 4.
Sales rose to an annual rate of 444,000 homes from a 354,000 rate the prior month that was the weakest since April 2012. The median selling price dipped 0.6% from a year ago, to $245,800.
The rate topped economists’ median forecast of 429,000, Bloomberg News reported. The rise from September was the biggest surge since May 1980.
Purchases rose in all four regions, led by a 34% increase in the Midwest.
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.