Yahoo Finance April Existing Home Sales: Struggling to Launch
Existing home sales were weaker than expected in April, falling 2.5 percent from March to 5.46 million units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR).
For-sale inventory increased 1 percent from March and has now increased in three of the past four months.
The median seasonally adjusted price of existing homes sold in April fell 0.1 percent from March to $256,100, although the drop was driven condo/coop prices.
Existing home sales fell 2.5 percent from March to 5.46 million units in April at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR), according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Looking beyond the month-to-month ups and downs, existing home sales have been essentially flat since fall 2016, seemingly struggling to lift off the plateau where they have held for the past year and a half. Existing home sales are now down 1.4 percent year-over-year.
No major region of the country saw existing home sales increase in April, but they were flat in the Midwest compared to March. The Northeast fell 4.4 percent, the biggest percent drop from March, while the West fell 3.3 percent and the South 2.9 percent . Looking only at sales of existing single-family homes, sales were up 0.8 percent from March in the Midwest. Over the past year, sales are down in all regions except for the South, where they rose 2.2 percent.
The number of existing homes on the market increased 1 percent in April to 1.72 million units (SAAR), although March inventory was revised downward to 1.70 million units from an initially reported 1.73 million units. Inventory is now down 6.2 percent over the past year – less dramatic than the 9 percent to 10 percent year-over-year declines reported earlier this year, but still the 35th consecutive month of annual declines in for-sale existing home inventory.
In what is perhaps very early signs of a turnaround in inventory, the number of existing homes on the market has increased on a monthly basis in three of the past four months – the first time that has happened since spring 2015, just before the long slide in inventory began.
The median seasonally adjusted price of existing homes sold in April edged 0.1 percent lower to $256,100, but remains 5.2 percent higher than it was in April 2017. The month-over-month decline was driven entirely by prices for condos/coops. The median seasonally adjusted sale price of existing single- family homes sold in April increased 0.1 percent to $258,500, while the median sale price of existing condos/coops fell 1.3 percent to $237,900.
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