Existing-home sales decreased 2.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million in April, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Despite the decline, sales are still at the fourth highest pace over the last year.
“Last month’s dip in closings was somewhat expected given that there was such a strong sales increase in March at 4.2 percent, and new and existing inventory is not keeping up with the fast pace homes are coming off the market,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “Demand is easily outstripping supply in most of the country and it’s stymieing many prospective buyers from finding a home to purchase.”
The total housing inventory rose 7.2% to 1.93 million homes available for sale, while the median existing home price stood at $244,800, a 6.0% increase from April 2016.
Distressed sales were 5% of the total in April, which are down from 7% a year ago. Three percent of sales were foreclosures and 2% were short sales. On average, foreclosures and short sales sold for discounts of 18% and 12%, respectively.
Read the NAR release.
