The U.S.
Commerce Department announced on Friday that the sales of new single-family
homes soared by 10.9 per cent m-o-m to a seasonally adjusted annual rate
of 743,000 units in April. This marked the strongest increase since August 2022
(+24.1 per cent m-o-m) and was the highest reading since February 2022 (781,000).
Economists
had expected a sales pace of 692,000 last month.
The March sales
pace was revised sharply downward to 670,000 units from the originally reported 724,000 units.
According to
the report, new home sales in the South, the largest area, jumped by 11.7 per
cent m-o-m in April to 478,000. In addition, new home sales
in the Midwest climbed by 35.5 per cent m-o-m to 84,000, and those in the West increased
by 3.3 per cent m-o-m to 158,000. Meanwhile, new home sales in the Northeast plunged
by 14.8 per cent m-o-m to 23,000.
Compared to April
2024, new home sales rose by 3.3 per cent.
The report also
showed that the median sales price fell by 2.0 per cent y-o-y to $407,200 in April,
while the average sales price increased by 3.6 per cent y-o-y to $518,400.