New single-family homes sales rose 3.3 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 343,000 from 332,000 in March, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The latest estimate is 9.9 percent above the April 2011 estimate of 312,000.
New single-family homes sales rose 3.3 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 343,000 from 332,000 in March, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The latest estimate is 9.9 percent above the April 2011 estimate of 312,000.
"The increase in April sales activity is in line with other important housing measures that have shown continued, gradual improvement from the first quarter as more consumers look to take advantage of today's low interest rates and affordable home prices," said National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Chairman Barry Rutenberg, a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. "In markets where demand is rising, we could be seeing a faster pace of recovery if not for persistently tight lending conditions that are slowing both the building and buying of new homes."
On a regional basis, new-home sales rose 7.7 percent in the Northeast, 28.2 percent in the Midwest and 27.5 percent in the West in April. The South was the only region to post a decline for the month, of 10.6 percent.
"Today's report is representative of the kind of modest but consistent gains that we expect to see in new-home sales through the remainder of 2012," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe.
"It's encouraging. These are signs that we might be forming a bottom in housing," Omer Esiner, chief analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington, told Reuters. "We'll need to see housing shore up before we can talk about a meaningful recovery in the U.S."
Article update at 12:54 p.m. Central.
