Washington ? Motivated by some of the lowest mortgage rates seen in decades, home shoppers turned into buyers and propelled new-home sales in November to the highest monthly level on record. New-home sales for all of 2002 are on track for their best-ever year.

Sales of new single-family homes clocked in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.07 million in November, representing a 5.7 percent jump from October’s level, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

“The housing market has become a perpetual motion machine,” said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. “It just keeps on going and going and going.”

Thanks to low mortgage rates, the housing market performed remarkably well during last year’s recession and remains one of the bright spots of this year’s spotty economic recovery.

Analysts say new-home sales will hit an all-time high this year, surpassing the record posted in 2001.