Lots of housing news today, so here's a quick wrap-up:

  • Sales of new single-family houses during April were up 3.3 percent compared with the revised March estimate to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 343,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
  • One third of all U.S. homeowners (31.4 percent to be precise) owed more on their mortgage than their house was worth during the first quarter, according to recently revamped negative equity survey by Zilllow.com. That's a total of of $1.2 trillion in negative equity and an increase over previous estimates. In the Twin Cities metro a whopping 40 percent where underwater, but most were still paying their mortgage on time. Specifically, 5.2 percent were more than 90 days late compared with 10 percent nationwide. In greater Minnesota, the situation was worst in Isanti County where more than half of all homeowners with mortgages were underwater.
  • Freddie Mac said that mortgage rates remained at record lows again this week. The 30-year fixed-rate mortage dropped a tiny bit to 3.78 percent and the 15-year held steady at 3.04 percent.