New Home Sales Rise to Two-Year High

New home sales rose 4.4% in November to a two-year high, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Sales rose to a 377,000 annual rate, the most since April 2010, from a revised 361,000, which was lower than originally reported, Commerce said.

The November rate was below economists’ median forecast of 380,000, Bloomberg reported.

Purchases rose 21.1% in the South and increased 12.5% in the Northeast. Sales dropped 17.8% in the West and 12.5% in the Midwest.

Rising home sales can mean more business for flatbed trucking companies, which haul building materials, and dry van freight carriers, which haul household appliances and furniture.