Sales of new single-family homes hit a record high in December, rising to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.08 million, up 3.5% from November's level, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.
That helped to send new home sales for all of 2002 soaring almost 8% over 2001 levels, the highest since the government began recording such sales in 1963. New home sales for 2002 also hit records in the Midwest, the South and the West.
