NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Sales of existing homes rose slightly more than expected in May as home buyers responded to plummeting home prices, according to an industry trade group.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said Thursday that the number of existing homes sold during May rose 2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.99 million units in May from a level of 4.89 million in April.
Sales were 16% below the 5.93 million-unit pace in May 2007, the report showed. Thursday's report marks only the second time in 10 months that sales have increased.
Analysts were expecting the sales rate to increase to 4.95 million last month, according to a consensus of analysts' estimates gathered by Briefing.com.
The report also showed that the national median existing-home price for all housing types fell 6.3% to $208,600 from $222,700 a year earlier.
"Home buyers are starting to get off the fence and into the market, drawn by drops in home prices in many areas and armed with greater access to affordable mortgages," said NAR President Richard Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists, in a statement.
Total housing inventory at the end of May fell 1.4% to 4.49 million existing homes available for sale, indicating a 10.8-month supply at the current sales pace. That's down from a 11.2-month supply in April, according to the report.
The large supply of homes on the market favors buyers but it should take several more months to draw the inventory down, said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.
"Stabilization in home prices can only occur with buyers returning to the market, so we are encouraged by rising home sales, particularly in distressed markets," Yun said.
The housing market remains mixed around the country. But the report showed that highly overbuilt markets - including Sacramento, the San Fernando Valley and Monterey County in California, Sarasota, Fla. and Battle Creek, Mich. - all experienced sales increases versus last year.
Thursday's number comes on the heels of two other dour reports on the housing market.
The Census Bureau said Wednesday that May sales of new single-family homes fell 2.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 512,000 from April's revised reading of 525,000.
That report was preceded by the release of the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city Home Price Index on Tuesday, which fell a record 15.3% on a year-over-year basis, and was down 1.4% from March. The 10-city index was down 16.3% year-over-year and 1.6% for the month.
See Also:
- Illinois Housing Market Improves in May
- Looking for London’s Best Office
- New Land Records Website Supplies Instant Document Images
- JPI Now Leasing New Luxury Apartments in Ballpark District of Washington, D.C.
- Consumers Search Real Estate Longer on Realtor.com and Move Network in May
[Via Home Mortgage Rates and Real Estate News]
No comments:
Post a Comment