The U.S. Commerce Department announced on Tuesday that the sales of new single-family homes surged 13.9 percent m-o-m to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 901, 000 units in July. This was the highest level since December 2006.

Economists had forecast the sales pace of 785,000 last month.

June’s sales pace was revised up to 791,000 units from the originally reported 776,000 units.

According to the report, new home sales in the South, the largest area, increased 13.0 percent m-o-m in July. At the same time, sales in the Midwest climbed 58.8 percent m-o-m and sales in the West went up 7.8 percent m-o-m, while sales in the Northeast plunged 23.1 percent m-o-m.