Sales of new U.S. homes jumped nearly 14% in June, the Census Bureau reported Friday, as the number of purchases hit a 13-year high.
The report shows that 776,000 homes were sold last month. That level of purchases has not been seen since July 2007, when 778,000 homes were sold.
June sales are also up nearly 7% from July 2019. Sales in the Northeast experienced an 89% increase from the prior month, while in the South, where many states are suffering spikes in coronavirus cases, sales were up only 7%.
The census report beat expectations as economists expected sales in June to increase 4% with only 700,000 units sold. Sales in May were revised up, from 676,000 units sold to 680,000.
The median sales price in June for a new house was $329,000, which is up from the annual median price in 2019 of $321,500.
