Separate reports from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) confirm what many people already know: The U.S. housing market is rebounding.
A joint report from HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau shows that sales of new single-family homes increased 2.1% in May compared to April. A total of about 476,000 new home sales transactions were completed in May compared to about 466,000 the month prior.
The median sales price for a new, single-family home in the U.S. reached $263,900. The average sales price was $307,800, according to the HUD/Census Bureau report.
Total single-family home sales for the month of May were 29% above total sales for May 2012, when about 369,000 sales transactions were recorded.
Meanwhile, a report from the FHFA shows that home prices increased 0.7% in April compared to March. The FHFA's Home Price Index shows that prices were up 7.4% compared to April 2012.
In addition, the FHFA revised its price index data for March to show that home prices increased 1.5% that month compared to February. Previously, the FHFA had reported a 1.3% increase.
April marked the 15th consecutive month that home prices increased in the U.S., according to the FHFA report.
Prices, however, are rising unevenly across geographic regions. For example, home prices actually decreased -0.2% in New England in April, compared to May but increased 2.2% in the Mountain region. Similarly, the year-over-year increase for home prices in the middle Atlantic region was about 2.9%, while the year-over-year increase for the Pacific region was 17.1%.