Existing Homes Sales Post First 2014 Increase

There were stirrings of a spring marketrnin April as both existing home sales and the inventory of available homesrnincreased.  The National Association ofrnRealtors® (NAR) said that home price growth also slowed, an encouraging sign ofrncontinued affordability.</p

Existing home sales which includerncompleted transactions on single family and town homes, condominiums, andrncoops, rose 1.3 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.65rnmillion.  It was the first increase thusrnfar in 2014 and sales remain 6.8 percent below the 4.99 million unit rate inrnApril 2013.   March sales were at a raternof 4.59 million. </p

Sales of single-family homes improved byrn0.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.06 million in April fromrn4.04 million in March, but are 7.7 percent below the 4.40 million pace a yearrnago.  Existing condominium and co-op sales<brose 7.3 percent to an annual rate of 590,000 units in April from 550,000 unitsrnin March, but are unchanged from April 2013.</p

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, saidrnthe improvement was expected.  “Somerngrowth was inevitable after sub-par housing activity in the first quarter, butrnimproved inventory is expanding choices and sales should generally trend upwardrnfrom this point,” he said. “Annual home sales, however, due to a sluggish firstrnquarter, will likely be lower than last year.”</p

The inventory of existing homes jumpedrn16.8 percent to 2.29 million, a 5.9 month supply compared to 5.1 months at thernend of March.  The unsold inventory isrn6.5 percent higher than a year ago, when there was a 5.2-month supply.</p

“We’ll continue to see a balancing act between housing inventory and pricerngrowth, which remains stronger than normal simply because there have not beenrnenough sellers in many areas. More inventory and increased new-homernconstruction will help to foster healthy market conditions,” Yun said.</p

Home values continue to appreciate but the pace is slowing.  The median existing-home price forrnall housing types in April was $201,700, which is 5.2 percent higher than in Aprilrn2013 while median prices increased by 8.6 percent on an annual basis during thernfirst quarter.  The median existingrnsingle-family home price was $201,100, in April representing a 4.7 percentrnannual increase and the median condo price rose 8.3 percent to $205,500. </p

As NAR reported earlier this month, the market share of all-cash purchases</bhas risen recently despite a downtrend in distressed home sales and investorrnactivity. All-cash sales comprised 32 percent of transactions in April,rncompared with 33 percent in March and 32 percent in April 2013. Individualrninvestors, who account for many cash sales, purchased 18 percent of homes inrnApril, up from 17 percent in March; they were 19 percent in April 2013. Sevenrnout of 10 investors paid cash in April. First-time buyers continue to representrnless than one-third of all buyers at 29 percent in April, the same as a yearrnearlier but one percentage point below the share in March. </p