Washington — Sales of new homes climbed to an all-time high last year even as the country was mired in a recession.
Low mortgage rates helped to motivate Americans to make such a big purchase.
The Commerce Department reported Monday that a record 900,000 new single-family homes were sold in 2001, a testimony to the resiliency of the housing market, one of the economy's few bright spots.
Last year's sales performance surpassed the record of 886,000 set in 1998 and represented a 2.6 percent increase from sales registered in 2000.
"The housing market was the shining star in a very dark constellation," said Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors.
For existing homes, sales reached an all-time high of 5.25 million in 2001, the National Association of Realtors said last week.
A key reason the housing market managed to hold up so well was because of low mortgage rates, analysts said. The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in 2001 was 6.97 percent, the lowest annual average rate since 1998.
New-home sales also were bolstered by incentives from home builders, such as including some amenities at no charge and paying for buyers' closing costs, said David Seiders, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders.
The low mortgage rates and incentives outweighed other negative factors for home buyers.
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