New home sales cracked 700,000 in August for the second time in three months, just the second such stretch since 2007. This very strong showing was more welcome news for a housing market that has now seen three solid data releases in the span of a week, and may well have been expected given recent positive trends in home construction, low mortgage rates and a still-robust labor market. These solid fundamentals have allowed builders to remain optimistic, even as construction levels lagged for the better part of the year. There’s still a lot of 2019 left, and following today’s numbers and the revisions to last month’s release, new home sales remain on pace for their best yearly performance since 2007.