Home Sales Up 2.5%

Existing home sales showed an increase for the month of May according to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors. All of the four regions across the United States had a growth in sales with the Northeast here seeing the largest increase.

Total existing home sales of properties including single families, condos, coops and townhomes had jumped up by 2.5% in May to an annual rate of 5.34 million. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said the jump shows that consumers are eager to take advantage of the favorable conditions. “The purchasing power to buy a home has been bolstered by falling mortgage rates, and buyers are responding.”

Home Prices

The median existing property price had also increased for the month of May up 4.8% which is effectively the 87th month in a row for gains.

Inventory

Inventory has gone up from the month before in April and was also up 2.7% over last year at this very same time. Unsold inventory is now at a 4.3 month supply at the current pace. Though inventory is up, the months’ supply numbers remain near historic lows, which has a direct effect on price, according to Yun. “Solid demand along with inadequate inventory of affordable homes have pushed the median home price to a new record high,” he said.

Days on Market

Properties remained on the market for 26 days in May which was up from April at 24 days. This was the same days on market however from May of 2018. Fifty-three percent of the homes that sold in May were on the market for less than 30 days.

Rates

Mortgage rates had shown a decrease for May which according to Freddie Mac, the average commitment on a 30 year fixed loan was 4.07%. This is down from 4.14% in April and surprisingly lower than the 4.54% average for all of 2018.