Everything is coming up roses in the nation's housing market this spring.

Home prices continued to soar in April, up to a median $203,800, 15.1 percent higher than they were a year ago.

Meanwhile, low mortgage rates fueled record sales.

The National Association of Realtors put the seasonally adjusted annual rate of single-family detached home sales at a new record 6.28 million, a 4.5 percent increase in sales from just a month earlier when the annual rate was 6.01 million. Sales activity was 5.0 percent above the pace for April 2004, 5.98 million units a year.

Total existing-home sales, including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, likewise rose 4.5 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 7.18 million from 6.87 million in March. Sales were also up for the year by 5.7 percent from the 6.79 million-unit pace set in April 2004. The previous record for all homes was a sales rate of 7.02 million in June 2004.

"A new record is a bit unexpected, but so is the performance of mortgage interest rates which have been lower than forecast," said David Lereah, NAR's chief economist.

Percentage of Million Dollar Digs Double

The percentage of homes valued at $1 million or more is moving faster than the rise in home prices, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It says while home prices are up 16 percent in the last three years, the percentage of million dollar homes has nearly doubled from 0.5 percent to 1.0 percent during the same period.

Not surprisingly, the Golden State, California had the highest percentage of million-dollar homes (4.1 percent) -- nearly 1-in-25. High concentrations of million-dollar homes were also found in Connecticut (3.3 percent), the District of Columbia (3.3 percent), Massachusetts (2.2 percent) and New York (2.1 percent).

Of the 231 counties with populations of 250,000 or more, San Mateo ($644,300), San Francisco ($607,000), Santa Clara ($553,500) and Santa Cruz ($553,000) -- all in California -- had the highest median home values. Among counties with the least expensive homes were Hidalgo, Texas ($54,000); Jefferson, Ark. ($61,900) and Cameron, Texas ($62,800).

Mortgage Rates Lowest Since February

Freddie Mac had forecast brisk home sales for April when it recently announced mortgage rates had dipped to the lowest levels since Feb. 24.

The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.71 percent for the week ending May 19, 2005 and the average for the 15-year FRM was 5.27 percent, both down from the previous week.

Expect more of the same.

"...As long as inflation is held in check, there is little or no pressure to push mortgage rates higher. And at the moment, core inflation does indeed seem to be a non-event. Continuing low rates will keep the housing industry abuzz," said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac.

NeighborWorks, NAR To Train 1 Million Home Owners

In an effort to further boost home ownership, the National Association of Realtors is partnering with NeighborWorks' home ownership counseling services. Studies have shown counseled home owners are much less likely to default on the mortgages or get into financial difficulty.

Earlier this year, the NeighborWorks community-based neighborhood revitalization network of 200 local affiliates in 49 states designed to develop strong communities, announced it was boosting its NeighborWorks Center for Home Ownership Education and Counseling (NCHEC) program to reach 1 million households this year.

"The effort is two-fold. We are making sure that home buyers are not subject to predatory lending and for those who have financial issues, they are able to get those straightened out before they enter the home-buying process," said JoAnne Pool, president of the Maryland Association of Realtors.

"We also realize we are working with the affordability of homes and that home prices have far exceeded income. Some of the counseling agencies have access to assistance for down payments," she added.