‘Sold’: the sizzling sign of the times
From Times staff and wire reports
Sales of new single-family homes hit a record high in December, rising to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.08 million, up 3.5% from November’s level, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.
That helped to send new home sales for all of 2002 soaring almost 8% over 2001 levels, the highest since the government began recording such sales in 1963. New home sales for 2002 also hit records in the Midwest, the South and the West.
Sales of previously owned U.S. homes surged 5.2% in December, putting home sales for all of 2002 at a new record of 5.56 million units, the National Assn. of Realtors said last week.
