New single-family home sales soared to its fastest pace in 2 1/2 years, jumping 4.4 percent over last month, as median prices also rose, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The sales pace in November for new-home sales was the highest since April 2010, the same time when the federal home-buyer tax credit had expired, the Commerce Department reported.

The median home price of new homes jumped 14.9 percent year-over-year, reaching $246,200.

"New-home sales are gradually picking up momentum as the economy improves," says Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders. "Prospective home buyers who have been sitting on the fence for years are moving back into the market due to continuing low mortgage interest rates, attractive pricing and the improving economy.”

NAHB is projecting new-home sales to post a nearly 20 percent increase for 2012 over the previous year. NAHB’s Chief Economist David Crowe says he also expects a similar gain next year, but the “fiscal cliff” could set the housing market back and affect new-home sales and other aspects of the housing market.

Still, the pace of new-home sales is about a quarter from the high reached in July 2005.

For the first time since 2005, new-home construction is expected to add to economic growth this year.

Source: National Association of Home Builders and “New Home Sales Hit Highest Rate Since April 2010,” Reuters (Dec. 27, 2012)