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Census Bureau says sales of newly built homes rose nearly 5% in February.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Sales of newly constructed homes unexpectedly rose in February, rebounding nearly 5% after sinking to the lowest level on record in January, according to a government report released Wednesday.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that new home sales rose 4.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 337,000 in February from a revised 322,000 in January. It was the first increase since July, and comes after sales tumbled to all-time lows in recent months.

Economists were expecting a sales rate of 300,000, according to consensus estimates compiled by Briefing.com.

The report also showed that the median sales price of new houses sold in February was $200,900, down 18% from $245,300 a year ago.

The estimated number of new homes for sale at the end of February was a seasonally adjusted 330,000. At the current sales pace, it would take more than a year to sell through that number of new homes, according to the report.

Wednesday’s report was the latest in a series of better-than-expected readings on the housing market.

On Monday, the National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales rose 5.1% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.72 million units from a rate of 4.49 million in January.

Last week, the Commerce Department reported that initial construction of new homes surged 22% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 583,000, up from a revised 477,000 in January. It was the first time housing starts increased since June, when they rose 11%.

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