Sales of new one-family houses were up 1.7% in April from March, and up 12.2% from last April, reported the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in a joint release yesterday. In April, sales of new houses reached a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1,028,000 in the United States. April?EUR??,,????'???s median sales price was $185,100, and the average price was $235,000. Median and average prices are up from March?EUR??,,????'???s figures, which were $182,000 and $229,900 respectively. In other words, the number of new houses sold in the US is generally rising, along with the prices. Distribution of the value of new single-family homes sold leaned towards the mid-range and the high-range. Specifically, 24% of new homes sold (23,000 homes) ranged in value from $150,000-$199,000). Twenty-three percent of the new homes sold (21,000 homes) were in the highest value range of $300,000 or more. Homes sold for under $100,000 compiled only 4% (7000 homes) of the total number of new homes sold in April. More homes were sold but not started than homes new homes that were completed in April. Of the 95,000 homes surveyed in this press release, 38,000 were not yet under construction. However, 23,000 were completed, and 34,000 were under construction. There is little change in these figures from March 2003. The Midwest saw the largest percentage of increase from March to April in new home sales (13.4%) in the United States, while the Northeast was the only region to decrease in sales (down 17.8%). However, as in March, the most homes were still being sold in the South in April (487,000 homes), and the least were sold in the Northeast (88,000 homes). In the Northeast, new residential sales are down 17.8% from March 2003, but up 57.1% from April 2002. In March 2003, seasonally adjusted rates of sales were at 107,000. They were down to 88,000 in April, a sudden drop from the over 50% rise in rates that took place from February to March. However, seasonally adjusted rates of sales were only at 56,000 new homes sold in April last year, so in one year, the Northeast has seen a general doubling in the number of new homes sold. In the Midwest, new residential sales were up 13.4% in April from March 2003, and up 9.4% from April of last year. This was reflected in the 186,000 homes built in April, 22,000 more than were built in March 2003 (164,000), and 16,000 more than were built in April 2002 (170,000). In the South, new residential sales were up 0.6% from March. This reflects little change in the market, shows an increase of 15.7% from April 2002. In April last year, the south saw the sales of 421,000 new homes, while in April this year, it watched 487,000 new homes go on the market. The market has remained rather steady since March 2003, when 484,000 new homes were sold. In the West, sales were up 4.3% in April from March 2003. In the region in April 2003, 267,000 homes were sold as compared to the 256,000 new homes sold in March 2003. Sales are down 0.7% from April 2002?EUR??,,????'???s figures, when 269,000 homes were being sold.