A day after a report showed a jump in sales of existing homes, the Commerce Department says new home sales also rose in April.

The 0.3 percent increase in sales of new homes was the second increase in three months, fueled by lower prices. The median price of a new home in April was down 15 percent from a year ago, the Commerce Department said.

The increase was less than had been expected, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists, which had predicted a 1.1 percent increase.

New home sales are also still down 34 percent from a year ago.

In a sign that homebuilders are making progress in working off excess inventory, the number of new homes on the market in April was down 4 percent from March and is now at an eight year low.

The National Association of Realtors Wednesday reported sales of existing homes, which makes up the overwhelming majority of all sales, rose 2.9 percent in April.