Sales of new single-family houses in April rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 517,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development. The April rate is 6.8 percent above the revised March rate of 484,000 and 26.1 percent above the year-ago rate of 410,000.
New home sales in two of the four regions increased this month. Sales in the Midwest increased 36.8 percent and in the South rose 5.8 percent. Sales in the Northeast and the West declined 5.6 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively.
The median sales price of new homes sold in April was $297,300, up 4.1 percent from March. The average price was $341,500, down 0.5 percent from March.
At the end of April, there were an estimated supply of 4.8 months at the current sales rate.
