Washington, DC, May 27--Low mortgage rates beckoned buyers in April and pushed up new-home sales to the highest level this year.
The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that sales of new single-family homes rose by 1.7 percent from March to April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.03 million. That marked the best showing since December and provided fresh evidence that the housing market continues to be one of the economy's few bright spots.
April's performance surprised economists who were predicting new-home sales to go down.
The increase in April followed a sizable 8.2 percent rise in March, which had lifted sales to a rate of 1.01 million. At that time, it marked the best sales level this year. However, April's sales rate of 1.03 million new-homes sold surpassed that.
