New home prices increased 1.9% in April at the national level, with prices up in 22 of the 27 census metropolitan areas surveyed. Demand for housing remains strong, despite higher construction costs Increasing construction costs continued to push new home prices higher in April. Building construction costs for both single homes (+6.8%) and townhouses (+6.9%) rose in the first quarter, mostly driven by five consecutive monthly price increases for softwood lumber, which rose a further 10.2% in April. Nevertheless, higher home prices did not slow the demand for single-family homes, despite weakness in certain sectors of ... (full story)