Sales Of New Homes In U.S. Climb 6.8% In April

New homes in the U.S. sold at an annual rate of 517,000 in April, bouncing back after a sharp drop in the prior month that was probably instigated in part by poor weather. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast sales to total a seasonally adjusted 490,000 in April. Although new-home sales remain well below their precession peak, shoppers have been more active in the first four months of 2015 than any time in the past seven years. Sales increased 6.8% from March and they up 26% compared to a year ago. The median price of new homes, meanwhile, rose 8.3% to $297,300 compared to April 2014. That's the highest level since December. The supply of new homes totaled 4.8 months at the current sales pace, down from 5.1 months in March.