New Zealand house sales in March recorded the best monthly result since November 2007, adding to signs of a real-estate-market recovery that may boost consumer confidence and spending later this year. Sales rose 25.3 percent from a year earlier, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand said in a report published today. Sales reached 7,330 last month from 6,168 in February, according to the figures, which don’t adjust for seasonal variations. Rising residential property sales suggest domestic demand is improving and the economic recovery will pick up pace later this year after central bank Governor Alan Bollard last ... (full story)