New-Home Sales Up 3.3 Percent in April

Washington Post (05/28/08) P. D3
New-home sales rose in April for the first time in six months, but the government revised sales in March down to the lowest level since April 1991. The Commerce Department reported that sales of new homes climbed 3.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 526,000 units, that the median price of new homes sold rose 1.5 percent from a year ago to $246,100, and that the supply of unsold new homes fell to a sales pace of 10.6 months from 11.1 months in March. Rising mortgage foreclosures and falling prices will continue to hurt new-home sales, according to economists. Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller index shows that in the first quarter, home prices had their sharpest decline in 20 years.