Washington, Dec. 27--New-home sales jumped 5.7 percent in November to the highest monthly level on record.
The Commerce Department reported that sales of new single-family homes climbed to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.07 million in November.
November's performance surprised analysts who were forecasting sales to go down.
New-home sales dropped by 4 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.01 million, but even with the decline sales were at a brisk level.
In November, the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.07 percent, down from 6.66 percent for the same month a year ago. This week, rates on 30-year mortgages dropped to a new low of 5.93 percent, Freddie Mac, the mortgage giant reported Thursday.
By region, new-home sales surged by 41.2 percent in November from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted rate of 257,000 in the Midwest. In the South, sales rose 2.4 percent to a pace of 475,000. But in the Northeast, sales plunged 26.7 percent to a rate of 44,000 and in the West they dipped by 3.9 percent to a pace of 293,000.
The average price of a new home in November was $218,900, representing a 5.8 percent increase from the average price for the same month last year.
But November's average home price was down from the previous month. November's average new-home price of $218,900 marked a 2.9 percent decline from October's average price of $225,500.
