Wednesday May 25, 10:03 AM EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sales of new U.S. homes rose unexpectedly in April, climbing 0.2 percent to a fresh record, a government report showed on Wednesday.
The Commerce Department said new single-family home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.316 million units, a new record, from a downwardly revised 1.313 million rate in March.
Wall Street analysts had expected April sales to decline 0.1 percent to a 1.350 million rate, from the previously reported 1.431 million pace. Deep revisions cut the March sales rise to 4.5 percent from the first-announced 12.2 percent jump.
Sales surged 37.2 percent in the Northeast, reversing a 4.9 percent fall in March, and the West recorded a 2.8 percent sales pickup. The South and Midwest both saw sales cool in April, falling 5.3 percent and 0.5 percent respectively.
The supply of homes, which measures the time it would take to deplete homes available for sale at the current sales pace, was steady at 4.1 months' worth in April.
The national median sales price on a new home rebounded to $230,800 in April from $217,500 in March. The average new home sales price was unchanged at $283,500.
©2005 Reuters Limited. (source www.iwon.com)
