US sales of previously owned homes fall for a third month

Bloomberg

Sales of previously owned US homes dropped unexpectedly in April for a third straight month as an inventory crunch pushed up prices by the most on record and restrained purchases.
Contract closings decreased 2.7% from the prior month to an annualised 5.85 million, the slowest pace since June, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 6.07 million rate in April.
Elevated asking prices, reflecting a limited number of homes on the market, are reducing affordability and constraining sales. Still, the pace of existing-home sales is above pre-pandemic levels, supported by borrowing costs that remain historically low.
The median selling price jumped 19.1% from a year ago to $341,600 in April. Both the annual increase and the median prices were records.
The sales decline in April “is due to the lack of homes on the market,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said on a call with reporters. “Even with home sales declining modestly, one can describe the market as being hot.”
There were 1.16 million homes for sale at the end of last month, down 20.5% from a year earlier. It would take 2.4 months at the current pace to sell all the homes on the market. A year ago, it was 4 months. Realtors see anything below five months of supply as a sign of a tight market.
Even with the decline in April, the housing market remains robust. On average, properties remained on the market for a record-low 17 days in April. Half of the homes listed are being sold above the asking price, Yun said, while 88% of properties purchased were on the market for less than a month.
Another sign of the competitive nature of the housing market was an increase in the share of homes bought in all-cash transactions. A quarter of the properties purchased in April were settled with cash, up from 15% a year ago.