Summer Boost or Permanent Shift? New Home Sales Jump 9.6%, Most in Four Years

Home sales increased 9.6 percent, “the most since February 2005, to a 433,000 annual pace…The gain in sales, together with rising purchases of existing homes and steadying prices, indicate the housing slump may be ending as Federal Reserve efforts to thaw credit and the Obama administration’s first-time homebuyer incentives lift demand.”