March new home sales rise to a record 1.3 million rate

Monday, April 26, 2004 | 9:06 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. sales of new homes rose to a record 1.23 million annual rate in March, exceeding forecasts, as cheap financing and an improving job market persuaded Americans to invest in real estate.

Single-family home sales rose 8.9 percent from a revised 1.13 million annual pace in February, the Commerce Department said in Washington. New home sales reached an all-time high of 1.1 million in 2003.

Mortgage interest rates in March approached four-decade lows and companies added the most workers to their payrolls than at any time in almost four years. A measure of the supply of homes for sale fell to the lowest since August.

The median price of new homes fell last month to $201,400 from $210,000 in February.

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