As the Associated Press notes:

The Commerce report on new home sales showed the April rebound was led by a huge 41.7 percent surge in sales in the Northeast. Sales were up 8.3 percent in the West and 5.8 percent in the Midwest. The only region which saw a decline in sales in April was the South, where sales fell by 2.4 percent.

Maryland, according to the Commerce Department, is in the South, in case you were wondering.

Also today, the federal government and National Association of Realtors settled an antitrust suit "that accused the trade group of trying to restrain competition," Bloomberg reports. No longer will NAR-affiliated multiple-listing services be able to keep online real estate brokers from fully accessing the listing information:

The government said the practice propped up an old-fashioned business model and harmed consumers who can save up to 1 percent of the price of a home by using a Web-based broker.

The National Association of Realtors says in a press release (headlined "Realtors Compete, Consumers Win") that the order "expressly provides that NAR does not admit any liability or wrongdoing and NAR will make no payments in connection with the settlement." 

Interested in the Justice Department press release? Read it HERE.