US new home sales jump in April, prices rise

Home selling activity in the States picked up unexpectedly last month.

According to the US Department of Commerce, new home sales jumped at a month-on-month pace of 9.6% in March to reach 683,000.

Economists had forecast a dip to 632,000.

The previous month's pace of sales on the other hand was revised down from a preliminary estimate of 640,000 to 623,000.

Home prices also rose from $433,200 to $449,800 on a median basis and from $501,800 to $562,400 on an average basis.

The inventory of homes available for sale meanwhile continued to decline, from the 8.4 months' worth of sales in February to 7.6 for March.

-- More to follow --