New US home sales rise 27 per cent in unexpected surge from record low

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, cp.org, Updated: April 23, 2010 10:29 AM
WASHINGTON - Sales of new homes in the United States surged 27 per cent last month, bouncing off the previous month's record low and blowing past expectations as better weather and government incentives boosted sales.

The U.S. Commerce Department says new home sales rose in March to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 411,000. It was the strongest month since last July and the biggest monthly increase in 47 years.

Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a sales pace of 330,000. February's results were revised upward to 324,000, but remained an all-time low.

Sales had been especially weak over the winter, partly due to bad weather in much of the country.

The median sales price was $214,000, up more than four per cent from a year earlier but down more than three per cent from February.