Another Indicator Points to Rebounding Housing Sector
By Sarah Portlock | Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON—Sales of new homes rose in April, a possible sign the housing market is picking up after its rebound moderated over the past year.
New home sales climbed 6.4% from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000, the Commerce Department said Friday. That partly unwound a drop the prior month, with home sales rising at a revised 407,000 pace. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast monthly sales would jump to a 420,000 annual pace for April.
“The tone of the April new home sales report was quite encouraging,” said Millan Mulraine at TD Securities. The report and other measures of the housing market “are collectively pointing to a rebound in U.S. housing market activity after the recovery essentially stalled during the prior nine months.”
Friday’s report included new seasonal adjustments for the sales pace for all months from January 2012, the Commerce Department said. Those revisions showed that the rate of home purchases was slightly weaker in the second half of last year through February than previously estimated. However, a Commerce Department economist said the new monthly figures didn’t affect the overall sales estimate for 2013.
