Existing-home sales fell, but not as much as economists had projected, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors…(NAR)
- M-O-M: Total existing-home sales fell 3.4% from April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.41M, this is the third month in a row of declines.
- Y-O-Y: Existing-home sales are now down 8.6% when compared to the same time one year ago.
NOTE: Economists had projected a slightly bigger drop of 3.7% to a rate of 5.40M.
Regionally, the South continues to hold the top spot despite a 2.8% monthly decline to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.41M. The South has led the four regions for the last nine months…
- The Midwest held on to the number two spot even with a 5.3% decline to an annual rate of 1.24M, the West was down 5.3% to an annual rate of 1.08M, and the Northeast had the only positive month (+1.5%) but was still fourth with an annual rate of 680k.
The median existing-home price hit a new record with a 14.8% increase year-over-year to $407,600. This is the 123rd consecutive month of year-over-year increases, the longest-running streak on record.
- Regionally, the West continues to hold the top spot at $633,800 (+13.3%) followed by the Northeast at $409,700 (+6.7%), the South $375,000 (+20.6%), and the Midwest $294,500 (+9.5%).
Unfortunately, first-time home buyers are facing the brunt of this current rising price/rate environment. They were responsible for only 27% of sales in May, down from 28% in April and down from 31% in May 2021. All-cash sales fell slightly in May to 25% of transactions, a 1% decline from April but up from 23% in May 2021.
However, the definite good news in the report is inventory levels continue to rise with total housing inventory registered at the end of May hitting 1,160,000 units, an increase of 12.6% from April but still down 4.1% from the previous year. Interestingly, this increase appears to not be from a lack of demand as time on market actually fell one day to 16 from the previous month.