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| Sales Increase for US New Homes in April Sales of new single-family homes, as reported by the U.S. Commerce Department, 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. 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 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." NAHB's current forecast shows about a 13 percent decline in new-home sales for 2006 as a whole. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Construction News :: home page |