The U.S. Commerce Department announced on Tuesday that the sales of new single-family homes rose 0.6 percent m-o-m to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 623, 000 units in April.

Economists had forecast the sales pace of 490,000 last month.

March’s sales pace was revised down to 619,000 units from the originally reported 627,000 units.

According to the report, new home sales in the South, the largest area, increased 2.4 percent m-o-m in April, while sales in the Northeast surged 8.7 percent m-o-m and sales in the Midwest rose 2.4 percent m-o-m. At the same time, sales of new homes in the West plunged 6.3 percent m-o-m.

In y-o-y terms, new home sales recorded a 6.2 percent drop in April.