Late last year, analysts were betting on a break from the hot housing market, which had begun to breed concerns of instability. How long could prices really run up?

New-home sales rose 4.5 percent from February to March and are up 3 percent year-over-year to a seasonally adjusted rate of 692,000, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Housing and Urban Development.

Nationwide, 344,000 new homes were listed for sale, a modest rise from 336,000 in February. The median sales price of a new home was [...]