Housing indicators continued their streak of good news Wednesday, as the Census Bureau reported a 3.3% increase in new home sales in April.
The government agency said last month’s seasonally adjusted annual rate came in at 343,000, higher than the upwardly revised March estimate of 332,000.
April’s tally also rose nearly 10% from a year earlier and beat analysts’ expectations of 335,000, according to Econoday.
Still, new home sales numbers remain far below levels prior to the housing bust, but the April increase marks another sign of growth for the industry.
The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that existing home sales grew 3.4% last month from March, while housing starts, or new construction, increased 2.6%. Existing home sales and starts were also up 10% and 30%, respectively, from April 2011.
The Census Bureau reported a median price of $235,700 on new homes sold in April, up from $234,000 in March and $224,700 a year earlier.
A seasonally adjusted estimate of 146,000 new homes were available for sale at the end of April, representing roughly five months of supply according to the current sales rate.
