"Existing home sales edged up 0.2% last month from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.02 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Monday. Sales were unchanged compared to April last year. The latest sales figure fell short of the roughly 4.12 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet. Sales have been hovering close to a 4-million annual pace now going back to 2023, far short of the historic norm that is closer to 5.2-million."
"And home prices continued to rise nationally last month, albeit at a slower rate. The U.S. median sales price increased 0.9% in April from a year earlier to $417,700, an all-time high for any April on data going back to 1999, NAR said. Home prices have risen on an annual basis for 34 months in a row."
""This spring homebuying season, so far all the way through April, we can say we are not predicting any increase compared to one year ago," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. While average incomes are now rising at a faster pace than U.S. home prices, affordability remains a major hurdle for aspiring homeowners."
"Years of soaring home prices, especially in the early part of this decade when rock-bottom mortgage rates fueled a buying frenzy, have left many would-be homebuyers frozen out of the market. And a chronic shortage of homes for sale nationally, due partly to years of below-average new home construction, has helped prop up home prices even in a multiyear sales slump."
Existing home sales rose 0.2% in April from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.02 million units and were unchanged from April of the prior year. The result missed the expected pace of about 4.12 million units. Sales have remained near a 4-million annual pace since 2023, well below the historic norm near 5.2 million. National home prices increased 0.9% year over year to a median of $417,700, the highest April level on record, with annual price gains continuing for 34 months. The market has been in a slump since 2022 as mortgage rates rose, and affordability remains a major barrier amid limited home supply.
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