New residential housing sales on the rise

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the sale of new single family residential homes was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 323,000 for the month of April. This is a 7.3 percent increase above the revised March rate of 301,000.

While this figure shows positive growth, it is important to note that this amount is 23.1 percent lower than the April 2010 estimate of 420,000.Numbers last year were likely inflated because of the first-time homebuyer tax credit.

Even though the numbers are seasonally adjusted, there are large error margins, and weather can influence peoples moving decisions, according to the Economic Populist.

The number of new homes available is at six-and-a-half months of inventory, which is down 9.7 percent from last month, according to the Census Bureau. There were 175,000 new homes available in April, slightly down from Marchs revised number of 180,000 homes. The average sales price on these homes was $268,900, while the median sales price was $217,900. Marchs average sales price was $250,000 and the median was $214,500.

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