With Mortgage Rates Down, New Home Sales Are Up Again in February Fueled by falling mortgage rates, sales of new single-family homes climbed 5.8% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.163 million, the Commerce Department reported last Wednesday. This was a 24.4% increase over the pace a year earlier and 7.2% above last year’s total sales. “The February report shows that housing demand remains very strong,” said NAHB President Bobby Rayburn, “and with mortgage rates even lower in March, we expect robust sales to continue.” In addition to affordable housing finance, strong housing demand continues to be stoked by healthy growth in household incomes and solid house price appreciation, according to NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. Sales increased 28.5% in the West and 12% in the Northeast. They declined 1.2% in the South and 10.6% in the Midwest. | 
