By Rex Nutting
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Boosted by a soon-to-expire tax break, low mortgage rates and favorable weather, sales of new homes surged 27% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 411,000 after hitting a record low in February, the Commerce Department estimated Friday. It was the largest percentage gain in sales since April 1963, the government said. It was the highest sales pace since July, and much stronger than the 335,000 expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. Sales in December, January and February were revised higher. Inventories of unsold homes fell by 5,000, or 2.1%, to 228,000, the lowest in 39 years.
