New home sales in the United States rose sharply in September to an 18-month high despite high mortgage rates, according to data released Wednesday by the Commerce Department.
In September, 759,000 properties changed hands in the annual projection (the 12-month projection if conditions were maintained at the time of measurement).
This is an increase of 12.3% over the previous month, marked by a sharp drop in sales.
August sales were revised slightly upward to 676,000 from 675,000.
The September data is higher than expected by the market, which anticipated a more modest increase to 683,000 units sold, according to the analyst consensus published by briefing.com.
