Existing home sales in May increased by a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.2% to 4.17 million, the highest level since December, according to NAR. The median price reached $429,300, marking the 35th consecutive month of year-over-year increases.
Existing home sales in May rose 3.2% month-over-month and year-over-year to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.17 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday.
According to NAR, the median existing home price reached $429,300, up 1.3% year-over-year, marking the 35th consecutive month of year-over-year increases.
Inventories increased 3.3% from April to 1.55 million units, equivalent to 4.5 months’ supply. The average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in May was 6.44%, up from 6.33% in April but down from 6.82% a year ago, according to Freddie Mac.
“More Americans are on the move, and home sales have risen to their highest level since December,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in the report. “Improving affordability is helping fuel this momentum.”
The housing affordability index was 105.6, up from 97.5 a year ago. Affordability improved year-over-year in all four regions, with the West posting the largest increase at 11%.
Despite a strengthening labor market, with 172,000 net new jobs added in May and a record national payroll, consumer sentiment remains at historic lows, Yun wrote in a separate analysis on June 5. Yun attributed the disconnect to housing affordability challenges and declining homeownership rates, especially among young households.
Lawrence Yun
First-time home buyers accounted for 35% of sales in May, up from 33% in April and 30% a year ago. The median time a property was on the market was 29 days, down from 32 days in April.
“It is not a broad-based recovery that is currently driving sales,” Kamini Lane, CEO and president of Coldwell Banker Realty, said in a statement provided to Inman. “Two groups of buyers are navigating very different markets: those where interest rates are a factor but not the deciding factor, and those who wait for rates to fall before making a move.”
Sales increased month-over-month in the Northeast, Midwest, and South, but were flat in the West. Only the Northeast region recorded a year-on-year decline, with a decline of 8%.
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