U.S. new-home sales jumped in January from the previous month to the highest level since July 2008, a sign that the housing recovery is accelerating. New-home sales rose nearly 16 percent in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 437,000, the largest percentage increase in nearly 20 years.
U.S. sales of previously occupied homes rose in January to the second-highest level in three years, a sign the housing market is maintaining its recovery and helping to bolster the economy. The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that sales rose 0.4 percent in January compared with December.
After five rough years, we could be on the cusp of a new economic boom. Not like the mid-1980s or late 1990s, mind you. But the odds that the next five years will be markedly better than the last five years are good, and growing better by the day.
Fewer people bought new homes in December, making 2011 the worst sales year on record. The Commerce Department said Thursday new-home sales fell last month to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 307,000. The pace is less than half the 700,000 that economists say must be sold in a healthy economy.
U.S. housing starts unexpectedly plunged 11.7% in October to a 519,000-unit annual rate, weighed down by a 47.5% decline in apartment and condo construction. But building permits, a leading indicator of future housing construction, did inch 0.5% higher last month.
Technically, the homebuilder sentiment index inched one point higher to 16 in November. But the gain was offset by a revised one-point dip in October's reading, and the numbers remain well below those seen during a healthy housing market.
