Market for new homes outperforms that of existing ones in April

New home sales in April fell 6.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 622,000, down 11.3% year over year, but still outperformed existing-home sales. The median price rose 8% to $422,500, driven by a higher share of homes priced above $400,000. New home inventory increased 1.7% to 489,000 but remained 2.2% below last year. Builders continue using incentives and price cuts amid higher mortgage rates and affordability challenges.