September sales for new homes across the Untied States have soared to the highest level in a decade.

According to USA Today, sales for new homes in the U.S. jumped last month to the highest level since 2007. This trend is further evidence that Americans are increasingly unable to find existing homes worth buying and are choosing to buy new instead.

A Zillow report states that nearly half of all buyers (48%) have been looking for homes that have never been lived in, as opposed to used properties.

Market researchers and economists stated that the housing market was drastically altered by Hurricanes Irma and Harvey, which hurt sales of used homes in the South and hindered new housing projects. The measure of these new home sales is primarily based on contract signings.

“This is yet another sign that, as we first saw with the initial jobless claims data, the recovery from Harvey was very fast and the disruption from Irma in Florida was far less than initially feared,” said chief economist at Amherst Pierpont Securities Stephen Stanley.

Despite the weather damage, the numbers speak for themselves. September sales saw a 17% increase on a year-on-year basis last month and the seasonally adjusted annual rate climbed 18.9% to 667,000 new housing unites last month. The percentage gain was the largest since 1992 and the new housing unit number was the highest since October of 2007 with 561,000.

With these high sales on new houses in September, the inventory of new real estate properties on the market remained at 279,000 units. If the real estate market would follow September’s successful trends, it would take five months to clear the housing unit surplus (down from six months from August).

The housing market is always fluctuating — but as long as you’re working with experienced professionals and do a little research before you make any offer, you should be fine. If you want to learn more about the housing market, browse luxury houses for sale, or find new homes for yourself in Delaware County, contact West End Walk today.