Newly built, single-family home sales in April increased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 619,000, the highest sales pace since January 2008, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
"Rising home sales combined with tight inventory will translate into increased housing production as we move onward in 2016, especially as job creation continues and mortgage rates remain low," said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz in a statement.
The rate is 16.6 percent higher than March’s rate of 531,000 and 23.8 percent higher than the April 2015 rate of 500,000. Regionally, new home sales went up by 52.8 percent in the Northeast, 18.8 percent in the West and 15.8 percent in the South. Sales dropped by 4.8 percent in the Midwest.
The inventory of new homes for sale was reported at 243,000 in April, a 4.7-month supply at the current sales rate. The median price paid for a new house in April was $321,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
