Via The Wall Street Journal

Sales of newly built homes rose at a solid pace in the first half of 2016, offering fresh evidence of healthy momentum in the U.S. housing market as home-buyers enjoy low interest rates.

Purchases of new single-family homes increased 10.1% in the first six months of the year compared with the same period in 2015, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

”We expect housing to continue to firm, on average, over the medium term, with a buoyant household sector supporting both prices and volumes,” Barclays economist Rob Martin said in a note to clients.

Sales were up 3.5% in June from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 592,000, the strongest monthly sales pace since February 2008. Sales in June were up 25.4% compared with a year earlier. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a June sales pace of 559,000. May sales were revised up to a 572,000 annual rate from an earlier estimate of 551,000.

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