Despite a small increase in inventory, sales of existing homes fell for the second straight month in April, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.
All four major U.S. regions registered month-over-month and year-over-year sales declines, it said.
Total existing-home sales — completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops — slid 3.4% from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.28 million in April. Year-over-year, sales slumped 23.2%, down from 5.57 million in April 2022.
The drop followed a 2.4% decline in March. Sales had jumped 14.5% in February, the first increase in a year.
"Home sales are bouncing back and forth but remain above recent cyclical lows," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "The combination of job gains, limited inventory, and fluctuating mortgage rates over the last several months have created an environment of push-pull housing demand."
The total inventory of homes for sale registered at the end of April was 1.04 million units, up 7.2% from March and 1% from 1.03 million a year earlier. Unsold inventory sits at a 2.9-month supply at the current sales pace, up from 2.6 months in March and 2.2 months in April 2022, the NAR said.
The median existing-home price for all housing types in April was $388,800, down 1.7% from April 2022 ($395,500). Prices rose in the Northeast and Midwest, but retreated in the South and West.
Affordability Issues Remain
"Roughly half of the country is experiencing price gains," Yun said. "Even in markets with lower prices …, multiple-offer situations have returned in the spring buying season following the calmer winter market. Distressed and forced property sales are virtually nonexistent."
Properties typically remained on the market for 22 days in April, down from 29 days in March but up from 17 days in April of last year. Of the homes sold in April, 73% were on the market for less than a month.
Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale said affordability remains an obstacle for many buyers.
“As buyers navigate housing affordability, a dip in home down payments suggests two things: 1) it’s getting harder for buyers to keep up with costs, and 2) a less competitive housing market is opening up opportunities for buyers who are making somewhat smaller down payments,” she said. “As is the case for many housing indicators, however, the point of comparison is important. Down payments are still considerably larger than was common before 2020.”
First-time buyers were responsible for 29% of sales in April, up slightly from 28% in both March 2023 and April 2022. NAR's 2022 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers — released in November — found that the annual share of first-time buyers was 26%, the lowest since NAR began tracking the data.
“The real estate market is a glass half-full, half-empty story for first-time home buyers,” Hale said. “A drop in market competitiveness and easing down payments open the door a bit wider, but the hurdles to entry are still quite high for first-timers who don’t have existing home equity to leverage for a downpayment.”
All-cash sales accounted for 28% of transactions in April, up from 27% in March and from 26% a year earlier. Individual investors or second-home buyers, who make up many cash sales, purchased 17% of homes in April, identical to March and a year ago.
Distressed sales, which include foreclosures and short sales, represented just 1% of sales in April, unchanged from both last month and a year earlier.
According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.35% as of May 11, down from 6.39% the previous week but up from 5.3% a year ago.
Single-family, Condo/Co-op Sales
Single-family home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.85 million in April, down 3.5% from 3.99 million in March and down 22.4% from the previous year. The median existing single-family home price was $393,300 in April, down 2.1% from a year earlier.
Existing condominium and co-op sales were recorded at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 430,000 units in April, down 2.3% from March and 29.5% from a year ago. The median existing condo price was $348,000 in April, an increase of 0.7% from a year earlier.
By Region
Existing-home sales in the Northeast receded 1.9% from March to an annual rate of 510,000 in April, down 23.9% from April 2022. The median price in the Northeast was $422,700, up 2.8% from the previous year.
In the Midwest, existing-home sales declined 1.9% from one month ago to an annual rate of 1.02 million in April, dropping 21.5% from the prior year. The median price in the Midwest was $287,300, up 1.8% from April 2022.
Existing-home sales in the South decreased 3.4% from March to an annual rate of 1.98 million in April, a 20.2% decline from one year ago. The median price in the South was $357,900, down 0.6% from April 2022.
In the West, existing-home sales slipped 6.1% from the previous month to an annual rate of 770,000 in April, down 31.3% from the previous year. The median price in the West was $578,200, down 8.0% from April 2022.
The National Association of Realtors is America's largest trade association, representing more than 1.5 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
