India, Jan. 27 -- New home sales in the U.S. surged by much more than expected in the month of December, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Monday.
The report said new home sales shot up by 3.6 percent to an annual rate of 698,000 in December after soaring by 9.6 percent to an upwardly revised ate of 674,000 in November.
Economists had expected new home sales to climb 0.9 percent to an annual rate of 670,000 from the 664,000 originally reported for the previous month.
The Commerce Department said an estimated 683,000 new homes were sold in 2024, up 2.5 percent from the 2023 figure of 666,000.
The sharp monthly increase by new home sales partly reflected a spike in sales in the Northeast, where new home sales sk...