The U.S. Commerce Department announced on Thursday that the sales of new single-family homes climbed 4.8 percent m-o-m to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,011, 000 units in August. This was the highest level since September 2006.

Economists had forecast the sales pace of 895,000 last month.

July’s sales pace was revised up to 965,000 units from the originally reported 901,000 units.

According to the report, new home sales in the South, the largest area, surged 13.4 percent m-o-m in August. At the same time, sales in the Northeast rose 5.0 percent m-o-m, while sales in the Midwest tumbled 21.4 percent m-o-m and sales in the West dropped 1.7 percent m-o-m.