Home Sales Take Biggest Jump in 8 Years

New home sales jumped 11% in June, the biggest gain in eight years, the Commerce Department announced today, as the supply fell to its lowest level in more than a decade. With mortgage rates and prices staggeringly low—the median home price fell 12%—buyers came out of the woodwork. Sales increased to a 384,000 annual pace, topping estimates, which had ranged from 335,000 to 377,000, Bloomberg reports.

“Things are bottoming,” said one economist, though he noted that “it’s going to be difficult for builders to be selling at a more rapid rate until the foreclosure issue subsides.” (More economic indicators stories.)