WASHINGTON, April 25 - Sales of new U.S. homes roseto a record rate in March, the government said on Wednesday in areport suggesting the housing market is holding up well despite theoverall U.S. economic slowdown. The number of new single-family homes sold in March rose 4.2 percentto an annual rate of 1.021 million units, up from a revised rate of980,000 in February, the Commerce Department said. The March figure far outstripped analysts' expectations of a rise of910,000. The report beat the previous record set in December last yearwhen sales of homes rose to an annual rate of 1.007 million.