"Simply stated"...

The Commerce Department said new home sales surged 16.2% in April, the sharpest climb in fourteen years, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 981,000 units, far better than forecast. Analysts were predicting that April sales would come in at an annual rate of 890,000 units, according to Thomson Financial.  This helped ease concerns over the state of the economy, and also caused a surge in early stock market trading.

In April, the median sales price of a new home fell $28,500 to $229,100 from $257,600 in March.  This is good news for first-time buyers and ex-renter buyers... it is a push for those selling a home and buying another in the same market area.