That followed an even bigger 12 percent jump in July, according to the government’s revised figures.
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Healthy hiring along with smaller increases in prices for new homes has finally started to push sales higher, which were hammered hard during the recession and have recovered very slowly even after the downturn that ended during 2009. But most economists were still encouraged by the gains. He said strong readings could continue for several months because weather delays in the first half of the year may cause housing markets to “remain busy later into the year than usual”.
Surveys showed that the outlook for homebuilders is at its most optimistic in more than a decade, which is a good sign that construction would increase.
That’s because they generate more construction jobs, demand for more building materials and more spending on landscaping and other services. At the end of August, there were only 216,000 new homes available for sale which are just enough to last 4.7 months at the present pace of sales. The group reports increased buyer traffic and improving sales conditions. Sales have settled somewhat since, though are well above-year earlier levels.
House prices also rose with the median price at $292,700, up 0.5 percent from July.
The Federal Reserve Chair, Janet Yellen had commented last week that she is expecting continuous improvement in the housing market as more people are finding jobs and younger Americans are increasingly moving out on their own.
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“Commercial banks are easing lending standards for mortgages, and the household formation numbers look good”, Brett Ryan, a USA economist at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.in New York, said before the report.
