Existing-home sales fell for the third month in a row, according to the National Association of Realtors…(NAR)
- M-O-M: Total existing-home sales fell 2.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.61 million.
- Y-O-Y: Existing-home sales fell 5.9% from the same time one year ago.
Regionally, it was a mixed month. However, the South held on to the top spot easily, even with a 4.6% month-over-month decline, with an annual rate of 2.49M…
- The Midwest was number two after thanks to a 3.1% monthly jump to an annual rate of 1.14M followed by the West at 1.14M (-5.8%) and the Northeast at 670k (+1.5%).
Home prices continued to climb in April with the median existing-home price hitting $391,200, up 14.8% from April 2021. This is the 122nd consecutive month of year-over-year increases…
- The West continues to hold the top spot with a median existing-home price of $523,000, up 4.3% from April 2021. The Northeast was number two at $412,100 (+8.1%) followed by the South at $352,100 (+22.2%) and the Midwest at $282.000 (+8.7%).
NOTE: For the eighth consecutive month, the South recorded the highest pace of price appreciation in comparison to the other three regions.
Some good news on the inventory front as total housing inventory rose 10.8% to 1.03M. However, this is still down 10.4% from one year ago.
- Unsold inventory sits at a 2.2-month supply at the current sales pace, up from 1.9 months in March and down from 2.3 months in April 2021.
- Properties typically remained on the market for 17 days in April, equal to both the number of days in March 2022 and in April 2021.
NOTE: First-time buyers made up 28% of all sales, down from 30% in March and from 31% one year ago. And all-cash sales actually fell to 26% of all transactions, down from 28% in March but up from 25% one year ago.
Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said that higher prices and higher rates have reduced buyer activity but it is not over yet…
- “It looks like more declines are imminent in the upcoming months, and we’ll likely return to the pre-pandemic home sales activity after the remarkable surge over the past two years.”