New homes sales soared 10.6% in September.

Last month’s increase was attributed to lower mortgage rates, the elimination of long loan-processing delays and strong demand in the Northeast, the Commerce Department reported. The increase also broke a string of five consecutive monthly declines. The department said new single-family homes were sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 690,000 units in September, against a rate of 624,000 units in August. The September increase was the first improvement since March, when sales had soared 24.7% to an annual rate of 924,000 units.