Sales of new single-family homes in the United States jumped 7.9 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 764 thousand in January of 2020, beating market forecasts of 710 thousand. It is the highest level since July of 2007, following an upwardly revised 708 thousand in December. Sales increased in the Midwest (30.3 percent to 99 thousand, the highest level since October of 2007), the West (23.5 percent to 252 thousand, the highest since July of 2006 ) and the Northeast (4.8 percent to 44 thousand) but fell 4.4 percent in the South. There were 324,000 new homes on the market, up 0.3 percent from December. At January’s sales pace it would take 5.1 months to clear the supply of houses on the market. The median new house price rose to USD 348,200 from USD 305,400 year ago. Year-on-year new home sales jumped 18.6 percent.