April new home sales, as reported by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, increased 6.4% from March

New home sales increased to an annualized pace of 433,000 — up 6.4% from March (which was revised up from an initial estimate of 384,000, to 407,000) Activity fell in the Northeast but rose in the Midwest and the South. The West was flat. It’s important to understand that this number is an estimate, and these numbers are often revised several times. Investors should appreciate that these estimates can be volatile and shouldn’t read too much into any one specific number.

Restricted supply has been the theme of the U.S. housing market over the past year

At the end of April, there were 192,000 new homes for sale, representing a 5.3-month supply. The median time a new home has been on the market shrunk from nine months last summer to the current figure of five months. As professional investors have become major players in the real estate market, we’re seeing bidding wars for properties in the hardest-hit markets, like Phoenix, and even strong markets, like Washington, DC. For all the fears that a flood of properties would hit the market and drive down prices, the opposite problem has occurred.

Prices are rising as luxury outperforms entry-level homes

The median sale price for a new home was $275,000, and the average price was $320,500. These numbers aren’t based on a repeat sales methodology. So, you can’t project nationwide existing home prices from these figures. We’ve seen virtually every homebuilder report double-digit increases in average selling prices. The NAHB has reported that the average size of a new home has increased 300 square feet from 2009 to today. So, while prices are rising, part of that increase has been due to the product mix. That said, the report showed that the sweet spot for new home sales has been in the $200,000 to $299,000 range.