U.S. new-home sales posted their strongest month in more than eight years while prices jumped to a record level, suggesting robust demand alongside limited supplies across the housing market.
Figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Commerce Department showed purchases of new, single-family homes jumped 16.6% from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 619,000, the fastest pace since January 2008.
The median price of a new home—the point at which half of homes were sold above and half sold below—rose to $321,100 last month. That was up 9.7% from a year earlier and the highest level on record. Prices aren’t adjusted for seasonal factors.
Newly built homes make up just one-10th of all home purchases, and figures are often subject to large revisions. April’s report came with a margin of error of plus or minus 15.4 percentage points.
But broader trends suggest the market has regained its footing after a choppy first quarter. The National Association of Realtors said Friday that sales of existing homes, which account for the bulk of the market, rose for the second straight month in April. A separate Commerce Department report out last week showed housing starts rebounded in April, leaving builders on pace to break ground on 778,000 single-family homes this year.
Housing construction and sales remain below pre-recession levels. From 1990 to 2000, for example, new-home sales averaged a 716,000 annual pace. Last year, Americans bought 501,000 new homes, the best performance since 2007 but still well off previous years.
