Washington, Dc, April 26--Sales of new homes rose an unexpected 12.2 percent in March, according to Commerce Department report issued Tuesday.
The Commerce Department said that new single-family home sales rose to a 1.431 million unit pace in March from an upwardly revised annual rate of 1.275 million in February.
The 12.2 percent increase was the largest monthly jump since September 1993, when new home sales rose 12.6 percent.
Economists had expected sales to decline to a 1.195 million unit rate from the originally reported 1.226 million unit pace originally reported in February.
On a regional basis, sales rose 21.9 percent in the Midwest, 13.8 percent in the South and 9.9 percent in the West, but fell 8.9 percent in the Northeast.
In March, the supply of new homes for sale at the current pace was 3.6 percent, down 16.3 percent from February and marking the biggest decline in supply since a 17.2 percent drop in February 1996.
The national median sales price on a new home, however, dipped in March to $212,300 compared with $234,100 reported for February.
