Mixed news on US property sector

US house prices have been falling

US new home sales rose in April, the government says, but separate data has suggested price falls are worsening.

Sales of new homes rose 3.3% last month, to an annual rate of 526,000 units the Commerce Department said. Analysts had expected sales to fall.

But according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index, US homes saw their biggest price fall in two decades in the first quarter of the year.

Stricter demands for mortgage seekers has dampened the US housing market.

Another factor depressing the market has been the rise in the number of repossessions, as people have been unable to repay loans.

Many borrowers who had taken out loans when interest rates were low found they could no longer repay their mortgages once rates rose again.

In particular, sub-prime borrowers - those with limited or no credit history - started to default on payments.

While the Commerce Department saw sales of new homes rise in April, it also revised downwards March's sales figure from a drop of 8.5% to a drop of 11%.

The S&P national home price index dropped 14.1% in the first quarter compared with a year earlier - the biggest fall since the index was developed in 1988.