A flat April for existing home sales has left the housing industry without the robust spring rebound it had been banking on to escape a lengthy downturn.
According to the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales ticked up just 0.2% between March and April, reaching a seasonally adjusted annualized pace of 4.02 million units. Analysts had expected a gain of more than 3%, according to CNBC. Sales were unchanged from a year earlier.
Because the data tracks closings rather than contract signings, it captures deals that buyers and sellers agreed to in late February and March, a period when 30-year fixed rates were still hovering in the high 5% range before subsequently climbing, according to CNBC.
NAR chief economist Dr. Lawrence Yun pointed to affordability gains as a modest support for sales. "Mortgage rates are lower from a year ago, and average income growth is outpacing home price gains," he said in a statement. Yun also noted that inventory remains tight and that multiple offers are still occurring, even as the average time a home spends on the market has lengthened.
On the supply side, available homes climbed 5.8% from March to April, though the gain over the same month a year ago was a much narrower 1.4%, leaving just 4.4 months of inventory on the market, according to CNBC. A 6-month supply is considered a balanced market. Yun said a 30% increase in inventory is needed but has not materialized.
At $417,700, the median sale price rose 0.9% year over year — a new peak for the month of April in NAR data.
Homes sat on the market an average of 32 days, three more than in April of last year. Buyers purchasing for the first time made up roughly a third of transactions, a slight dip from the prior year's share, while all-cash deals held at one in four sales.
Month-over-month, sales rose in the Midwest and South, held steady in the Northeast, and declined in the West. On a year-over-year basis, sales rose in the South, were flat in the West, and fell in both the Northeast and Midwest.