WASHINGTON - Sales of new US homes edged up 0.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.316 million, an all-time record, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.
March`s sales pace was revised lower to 1.313 million annualized from 1.431 million.
Economists were expecting a decline to about 1.328 million in April.
Along with Tuesday`s data showing a record level of existing home sales, the report confirms that the US housing sector continues to grow at a hot pace, despite concerns about a real estate bubble.
On Tuesday, the National Association of Realtors said turnover of existing homes rose 4.5 percent to a record 7.18 million annual pace.
Wednesday`s Commerce Department report showed the median sales price of a new home rose 3.8 percent year-over-year to 230,800 dollars.
The number of unsold new houses rose 0.2 percent to 440,000, a 4.1-month supply at the April sales pace.
The hot housing market is fueled by still-low interest rates, rising incomes and a widespread belief that real estate is the best investment.
Last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said he saw signs of "froth" in some local housing markets, but said there was no national speculative bubble in housing.
The government cautions that its housing data are extremely volatile and subject to large sampling and other statistical errors. It can take up to six months for a new trend in sales to emerge.
In the past six months, sales have averaged a record 1.25 million annualized, unchanged from a month ago.
In all of 2004, 1.203 million new homes were sold.
05/25/2005 14:29 GMT