The nation’s new home sales took off last month, and in the Midwest — sales of new houses skyrocketed.
During April, single-family new home sales in the United States came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 517,000.
Last month’s activity turned out to be better than in March, when the annual rate was 484,000. The prior-month rate was originally reported at 481,000.
It was also better than in April 2014, when homebuilders sold houses at an annual pace of 410,000. The year-earlier number was originally reported at 433,000.
The housing data was jointly reported Tuesday by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In the Midwest, new home sales skyrocketed 37 percent between March and April — the best performance of any region. A more modest increase occurred in the South, where sales were up 6 percent.
A nearly 6 percent decline in the Northeast was the worst of any region. Sales in the West were off 2 percent.
As of April 30, there were a seasonally adjusted 205,000
new homes for sale. In the same month during 2015, the inventory was 191,000.
Last month’s inventory left the supply at 4.8 months, down from 5.1 months in March and 5.6 months in April 2015.
The average sales price in April 2015 was $341,500, down from $343,300 a month earlier but higher than $325,100 a year earlier.
Last month’s new home median sales prices was $297,300, month than $285,500 in March and $274,500 in April 2014.
