Existing home sales in the U.S. pulled back by more than anticipated in the month of April, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Wednesday.
NAR said existing home sales fell by 2.3 percent to an annual rate of 5.57 million in April after jumping by 4.2 percent to a ten-year high of 5.70 million in March. Economists had expected sales to drop to a rate of 5.65 million.
"Last month's dip in closings was somewhat expected given that there was such a strong sales increase in March," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. "New and existing inventory is not keeping up with the fast pace homes are coming off the market."
He added, "Demand is easily outstripping supply in most of the country and it's stymieing many prospective buyers from finding a home to purchase."
The number of existing homes available for sale surged up by 7.2 percent to 1.93 million at the end of April from 1.80 million at the end of March, but total housing inventory is still down by 9.0 percent year-over-year.
NAR said the unsold inventory in April represents 4.2 months of supply at the current sales pace, up from 3.8 months in March but down from 4.6 months a year ago.
The report also said the median existing home price climbed 3.5 percent to $244,800 in April from $236,600 in March. The median price is up by 6.0 percent compared to last April.
"Homes in the lower- and mid-market price range are hard to find in most markets, and when one is listed for sale, interest is immediate and multiple offers are nudging the eventual sales prices higher," Yun said.
Single-family home sales decreased by 2.4 percent to an annual rate of 4.95 million in April, while existing condominium and co-op sales fell by 1.6 percent to a rate of 620,000.
On Tuesday, the Commerce Department released a separate report showing a substantial pullback in new home sales in the month of April.
The Commerce Department said new home sales plunged by 11.4 percent to an annual rate of 569,000 in April from an upwardly revised 642,000 in March.
Economists had expected new home sales to drop to a rate of 602,000 from the 621,000 originally reported for the previous month.
The upwardly revised figure for March reflected the highest rate of new home sales since it reached 727,000 in October of 2007.
by RTT Staff Writer
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com
Economic News
What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
