Annual sales of new single-family homes climbed 7.3 percent in April to a rate of 323,000, according to the U.S. Commerce Department (DOC); in March the rate was 301,000. However, sales are still 23.1 percent below the April 2010 rate of 420,000.
The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) says the current rate is the best pace since December 2010. "The fact that new-home sales have now risen for two consecutive months is certainly welcome news following an all-time low sales number in February," said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the NAHB. "That said, builders are still contending with a great deal of competition from foreclosed properties for sale in certain markets, and in places where this is not an issue, it remains extremely difficult to obtain credit to build new homes."
DOC also noted that the median sales price of new houses sold in April was $217,900; the average sales price was $268,900. NAHB also noted on Wednesday that housing affordability has reached its highest level in nearly 20 years, according to its Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). HOI indicated that 74.6 percent of all new and existing homes sold in the first quarter of 2011 were affordable to families earning the national median income of $64,400. This eclipsed the previous high of 73.9 percent set during the fourth quarter of 2010 and marked the ninth consecutive quarter that the index has been above 70 percent. Until 2009, the HOI rarely topped 65 percent and never reached 70 percent.
