New Homes Sales Recover Some of March Losses

New home sales beat most analyst expectations in April,rnrising 6.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 517,000 units andrnposting a 26.1 percent gain over the annual pace of 410,000 units in March 2014.rn Despite the increase, April sales didrnnot erase the 11.4 percent drop in new home sales reported in March althoughrnthose sales were revised up from 481,000 to 484,000.  The consensus expectation from Econoday for Aprilrnsales was 509,000 units.</p

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis sales of new homesrnnationwide were estimated at 49,000 units. rnMore than half of sales (26,000) were in the South.</p

The median price of a new home sold during the month wasrn$297,300 compared to $274,500 in April 2014. rnThe average sales price was $341,500, up from $325,100 one year earlier.</p

At the end of the reporting period there were a seasonallyrnadjusted estimate of 205,000 newly constructed homes available for sale.  At the current rate of sale this would be a 4.8rnmonth supply compared to 5.1 months in March and a 5.6 month supply in Aprilrn2014.</p

Sales of new homes in the Northeast were down 5.6 percentrnfrom March and 0ff 19.0 percent from a year earlier.  Sales surged in the Midwest, up 36.8 percentrnfor the month and 20.0 percent higher than in April 2014.  The South saw a month over month increase ofrn5.8 percent and year-over-year of 26.4 percent. The West fell back by 2.3rnpercent from March but sales were 39.8 percent higher than a year earlier.

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