Dive summary:

• Having new-home sales up nationally to a rate of 417,000 per year is good news, but the reported 1.5% gain covers up a disparity between East and West in the federal data.
• The biggest change in sales activity among the four regions was a 20.9% decline in the West, but even adding that to a 12.1% Midwest drop, the 20.6% gain in the Northeast and the 19.9% in the South outweighed it.
• The National Association of Home Builders said the national picture is on track with its expectations, but repeated that expectations are being kept low by too-tight credit and "challenges" among builders trying to get lots, materials and labor.

From the article:

"This is the second-best sales number we've seen since early 2010, and a good sign of the continued, gradual headway that our industry is making," said Rick Judson, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)....