Sales Of New Homes Increase In April

[Huligar]

WASHINGTON, May 24--Sales of new single-family homes were up 4.9
percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.198
million units, following a substantial downward revision to sales
for the first quarter of the year, the U.S. Commerce Department
reported today. Year-to-date, new-home sales for the first four
months of the year were down 11.2 percent from the same period
last year.

"The rebound in sales in April, as reported by the government,
was somewhat surprising but not that unrealistic considering the
downward revisions that accompanied it," said National
Association of Home Builders (NAHB) President David Pressly, a home
builder from Statesville, N.C. "Indeed, builders are seeing a
tapering off of demand and NAHB's Housing Market Index survey of
builders fell to a level of 45 in May, the lowest reading since
mid-1995."

"The reported rebound in new-home sales for April certainly is
welcome news, although the substantial downward revisions for the
first quarter of the year left the sales pace well below 2005 on
a year-to-date basis," said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders.
"We continue to believe that the housing market is cooling down
in an orderly fashion from the record pace last year, largely
because of a pullback by investors/speculators. NAHB's current
forecast shows about a 13 percent decline in new-home sales for
2006 as a whole."

Three of four regions across the country posted increased sales
of new homes in April. Sales were up in the Northeast by 8.2
percent, in the South by 7.8 percent and in the West by 2.0
percent. Sales in the Midwest were down by 1.1%. All regions were down
substantially on a year-to-date basis.

The inventory of new homes for sale rose to 565,000 units at the
end of April, a 5.8 months' supply at the current sales pace.
All of the increase was for-sale units that were not yet started,
which represented 20 percent of the inventory level.

Units still under construction were almost 57 percent of the
inventory, and completed homes for sale were 23 percent of the
total ? about the same as a year earlier. The median length of time
that completed homes for sale were on the market was four months
in April, compared with 4.4 months a year earlier.