Existing home sales for April slipped 2.3 percent according to The National Association of Realtors. This comes on the back of the sharp correction in new home sales reported yesterday by the Census Bureau. Existing home sales for April posted at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million units. While down from the previous month, this was roughly 1.6 percent higher than last year.
Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, pegged the sales softness on a lack of affordable homes…
“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.”
The median price of an existing home sold in April rose 6 percent year-over-year to $244,800. That was the 62nd straight month of price increases. Inventory of existing homes stood at 4.2 months of supply in April, down from 4.6 months a year ago.
Even with the modest decline in existing home sales, the persistent gap remains in terms of the comparison with new home sales. As bad as the affordability problem is with existing homes, it’s even worse in the new home market.
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