New Home Sales in U.S. Dip in April

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau, sales of newly built, single-family homes fell 6.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 673,000 units in April 2019 after a sharp upwardly revised March 2019 report. The March sales pace of 723,000 units was the highest monthly rate since the Great Recession and the April figure was the third-highest pace.  "After a challenging final quarter of 2018, data for the start of the year shows stabilization and modest growth for home sales," said Greg Ugalde, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and developer from Torrington, Conn. "Our builder surveys show that traffic is steadily increasing. The challenge facing builders is how to deal with ongoing supply-side constraints such as a lack of buildable lots and labor that are putting upward pressure on housing costs."