After the new housing market?EUR??,,????'???s dip that culminated in the lowest number of homes sold since April of last year, new residential sales are once again catching fire, according to the US Census Bureau?EUR??,,????'???s and US Department of Commerce?EUR??,,????'???s joint release on April 25, 2003. The total of 1,012,000 new homes sold in the United States show that new residential construction is on the rise, especially in the Northeast, where sales were up 82.5% from February. This is quantified by the 104,000 homes sold in March in comparison to 57,000 new homes sold in February. Sales are also up in the South 15.9%, where 503,000 homes were sold in March, in comparison to the 434,000 sold in February. The news is not so good in every part of the country. While the West?EUR??,,????'???s sales have managed to stay roughly the same, with a .4% increase in new home sales, the Midwest?EUR??,,????'???s sales plunged 26.4% in March, exhibited by the 134,000 homes sold as compared to the 182,000 sold in February. However, compared to last year?EUR??,,????'???s total sales of 915,000 new homes across the United States, sales are up 10.6%. Although more homes were sold in March, the average price of these homes lowered from $235,000 to $229,900. However, a 2% rise in homes worth $300,000 and over makes this category of homes the second largest group sold on the market (22,000 sold in March). The most homes sold were in the range of $150,000 - $199,000 (23,000 sold in March). As for the preliminary number of houses sold during March, 39% were not yet under construction, 37% were under construction, and 24% were completed. Also reported on April 1 by the Department of Commerce and the US Census Bureau was February?EUR??,,????'???s total construction put in place throughout the U.S. Public construction was down 2.9% from January (at $203.8 billion from $210.0 billion), and down 5.2% from February last year (at $203.8 billion from $214.9 billion). Non-residential, private building was up .3% from January (at $158.8 billion from $158.3 billion) and down 13.3% from February last year (at $158.8 billion from $183.2 billion).