New Home Sales Soar in April
The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported Monday morning that sales of new homes in April soared much more than expected.
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The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported Monday morning that sales of new homes in April soared to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 619,000. That was an increase of 16.6% from the revised March rate of 531,000 and an increase of 23.8% compared with the April 2015 rate of 500,000. The consensus estimate from a survey of economists expected a rate of around 523,000. The February rate was revised upward by 12,000.
At the peak in 2005, new home sales posted a seasonally adjusted annual rate of nearly 1.4 million.
The Census Bureau also reported that the median sales price for new homes sold in April rose by $19,700 from $288,000 in March to $321,100, and the average sales price rose by $23,600 to $379,800. At the end of April, the number of new homes for sale totaled 243,000 and represented a supply of 4.7 months at the current sales rate.
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In April, 44% of the estimated 61,000 monthly sales were sales for homes priced at less than $300,000. The percentage is one point higher than the March rate. Sales of homes priced between $300,000 and $399,999 rose by four points to 25% of all sales. Sales of homes in the range of $400,000 to $499,999 rose fell from 12% of sales to 11%, and sales rose from 10% to 14% for homes sold in a range of $500,000 to $749,999. Home sales for properties priced above $750,000 accounted for 6% of all new home sales in April, up from 4% in March.
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Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.
