April?EUR??,,????'???s figure is 16.2 percent above the revised March rate of 844,000, but is 10.6 percent below the April 2006 estimate of 1.097 million.

The increase followed downward revision to the sales rate for the previous month, and the sales pace remained below the one million-unit pace for the fourth consecutive month.

?EUR??,,????'??We?EUR??,,????'???re viewing the large jump in new-home sales for April with a lot of caution, in view of the large month-to-month volatility historically displayed by these statistics,?EUR??,,????'?? said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. ?EUR??,,????'??In addition, the April bulge may very well have reflected favorable weather swings, particularly in the South region. It also appears that the aggressive sales techniques being employed by builders are now showing some success, despite the subprime-related difficulties in the mortgage market.?EUR??,,????'??

The inventory of new homes for sale edged down in April to 538,000 units, equivalent to a 6.5 months?EUR??,,????'??? supply at the April sales pace and down from 8.1 months in March. Completed homes for sale were 33 percent of the inventory, while units still under construction represented 51 percent of the inventory and units for-sale that were permitted but not yet started represented almost 16 percent of the inventory level. The median length of time that completed homes were on the market was six months in April.

Regionally, new-home sales were up 27.8 percent in the South, 3.8 percent in the Northeast and 8.5 percent in the West for the month. Sales were down by four percent in the Midwest.