Dive Brief:

• April sales numbers for new single-family homes put the annual pace at 433,000, which is up 6.4% from March.
• The data, from the Bureau of the Census and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, might indicate sales will pick up again after a slow start to the year.
• The sales varied widely among the four regions for which they were reported, from being up 47.4% in the Midwest to being down 26.7% in the Northeast, with the South up 3.1% and the West flat.

Dive Insight:

The April increase might be an indication that a tough winter was behind the very sluggish start to 2014, except that does not explain why sales tanked in the Northeast. The National Association of Home Builders said its members are slowly adding inventory in anticipation of pent-up demand coming into the market. Tight credit was once again blamed for holding back the housing recovery.