US sales of new homes up in April

According to the Commerce Department sales of new homes soared in April for the first time in six months.

Photo: US sales of new homes up in April

Experts estimated that the sales went up 3.3 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 526,000 units.

In spite of positive development the market experienced the activity near the lowest level in 17 years. This tendency would last for some time as the housing industry struggles with falling prices and rising mortgage foreclosures.

Following the report data the median price for a new home jumped to $246,100 in April, up 1.5 percent from April 2007.

Such unsteadiness in sales resulted from a huge 41.7 percent surge in sales in the Northeast. Sales were up 8.3 percent in the West and 5.8 percent in the Midwest. The decline in sales in April was registered in the South, where sales fell by 2.4 percent.