Dive Brief:
- New home sales rebounded in April, seeing a 6.8% rise from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 517,000, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Year-over-year, new home sales rose 26.1%.
- Economists estimated new home sales would rise 6% for the month, according to The Wall Street Journal. Last month, sales of new homes fell 11.4%.
- The report also found the median sales price of new homes in April reached $297,300, an 8.3% jump from April 2014.
Dive Insight:
New home sales account for about 10% of the total market. Experts attribute the rebounding numbers to low inventory of existing homes, as well as low mortgage rates and steady employment growth.
Despite the positive numbers, the news comes after the National Association of Realtors' report last week that revealed existing home sales unexpectedly dipped 3.3%. The mixed data adds to the uncertain predictions of the housing market's future.
