Americans responded to higher mortgage rates by snapping up new homes in February at the fastest pace since July. New-home sales rose 6.1 percent month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 592,000, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Healthy job growth and a recovering economy have pushed up interest in new homes, while the prospect of rising mortgage rates since the November presidential election may have pulled some sales forward. Some buyers may be looking to lock-in their purchases out of concern that mortgage rates will rise, possibly hurting affordability. That represents a slight decline from the prior week, but it's significantly higher than the 3.65 percent average last year.

Source: ABC News March 23, 2017 14:09 UTC