US new home sales rebounded in April after falling the previous month, official data showed today in mounting early signs of recovery in the collapsed housing market.
The Commerce Department reported new home sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 343,000, an increase of 3.3% percent from the upwardly revised March rate of 332,000.
The April number marked a 9.9% increase from April 2011, as the housing market slowly improves six years after the collapse of a price bubble.
In unadjusted data, 33,000 new homes were sold in April, the best month for builders in two years.
Home prices also headed higher. The average price was $235,700, up 0.7% from March and 4.9% from 12 months ago.
The upbeat data continued the improvement seen in the existing-homes market, the lion's share of the US housing sector.
Sales of previously occupied homes rose 3.4% to an annual rate of 4.62 million in April, and were 10% higher than a year ago, the National Association of Realtors said today. NAR noted that sales were no longer due to investors taking advantage of depressed housing prices, and that some areas have become a seller's market.
