New Home Sales Surged in April

Sales of new single-family houses in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 743,000, according to estimates released by the US Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 10.9% above the March 2025 rate of 670,000 and is 3.3% above the April 2024 rate of 719,000 – this also marks the highest sales level in more than three years.

The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of April was 504,000, which is 0.6% below the March estimate of 507,000 but is also 8.6% above the April 2024 estimate of 464,000. This represents a supply of 8.1 months at the current sales rate. The months’ supply is 11% below the March estimate of 9.1 months and is 5.2% above the April 2024 estimate of 7.7 months.

The median sales price of new houses sold in April was $407,200, which is 0.8% above the March price of $403,700, and 2% below the April 2024 price of $415,300. The average sales price of new houses sold in April was $518,400, which is 3.7% above the March price of $499,700 and 3.6% above the April 2024 price of $500,600.

Despite the surge in sales activity, industry experts viewed the data cautiously.

“The April new home sales figure appears to be an anomaly, as builder sentiment moved markedly lower in May,” said Buddy Hughes, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders and a home builder and developer from Lexington, North Carolina. “A more reliable look would be the year-to-date figures, which show new home sales are down 1.2% on elevated interest rates, ongoing policy uncertainty and rising construction costs.”

Rick Palacios Jr., director of research at John Burns Research & Consulting, stated, “Today’s new home sales release is a bigger head scratcher than usual. ‘Rough April for builders; industry lowering ’25 outlook’ was our April survey headline a few weeks back, and the industry’s mood hasn’t changed much through May.”

First American Deputy Chief Economist Odeta Kushi observed, “While today’s report appears optimistic at first glance, there are underlying concerns. The new home sales report does not adjust figures to account for cancellations of sales contracts. Redfin recently highlighted a rise in home sales cancellations due to affordability challenges and heightened economic uncertainty. This trend suggests that sales figures might be overestimated.”