New Home Sales Jumped in September. Demand Trumped Rising Mortgage Rates.

It’s a sign that buyers remain eager to buy new homes in a market with few previously owned options—and builder incentives probably don’t hurt. New home sales, a measure of contract signings for newly constructed homes, rose 12.3% to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 759,000 from August’s upwardly-revised rate of 676,000, government data released Wednesday show. The gain shows that prospective buyers have remained in the market despite quickly-rising mortgage rates.