APRIL EXISTING HOME SALES DOWN 1% TO 4.89mln
The April Existing Home Sales fell 1% to an annual rate of 4.89mln, slightly better than analysts had expected but down from an upwardly revised 4.94mln in March. Y-o-Y existing home sales were down 17.5% compared to a 5.93mln sales pace in Apr-07.
The national median sales price was $202,300, down 8% compared to April of last year. The median price of a single-family home was $200,700, down 8.5% from last April, and the Condo median price was down 3.7% to $214,900.
Inventories of unsold homes in April rose 10.5% to 4.55mln, 11.2 months’ supply at the current sales rate and the highest supply since the combined single-family and condo series began in 1999. Existing single family home inventories, at a 10.7 months- supply level, are at their highest since ‘85.
Single-family home sales declined 0.5% with sales dropping in the Northeast and the Midwest but rising in the South and West. Median prices of single-family homes fell in all 4 geographic regions.
Condo sales in April were down 5.2% but showed an increase in the Northeast that was offset by double-digit declines in the Midwest and South and no change in the West. Condo prices fell in all geographic regions except the Northeast, where they were unchanged.
Some markets that have seen very large price declines in the past year saw significant y-o-y sales gains in April, including Detroit, Las Vegas, and several areas in California. However, sales decline in some areas that previously had relatively stable prices.