Existing-home sales fell 2.4% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.61 million, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Sales fell year-over-year, down 5.9% from April 2021. First-time buyers were responsible for 28% of sales in April, down from 30% in March and down from 31% in April 2021.
“Higher home prices and sharply higher mortgage rates have reduced buyer activity,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “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.”
The total housing inventory in April was 1,030,000 units, up 10.8% from March’s inventory and down 10.4% from one year ago (1.15 million). The median home price was $391,200, up 14.8% from April 2021 ($340,700), as prices rose in every region. This marks 122 straight months of year-over-year gains.
Distressed sales represented less than 1% of sales in April, equal to the previous month’s percentage and down 2% from April 2021.
Read the NAR release.
