According to findings from IHS Global Insight, new home sales increased 7.3% in April to a 323,000 annual rate. However, although sales were up in all four regions, the market for new homes is still stuck at the bottom nationally.
Inventory - the number of new homes for sale - fell to 175,000, a record low. Single-family housing permits are essentially flat in most states. Because of tighter lending standards for builders and homebuyers, rising commodity prices, and uncertainty over the direction of the economy and of house prices, both the demand and the supply side of the market are experiencing negative numbers.
Source: IHS Global Insight
