Home sales slide again in April

Home sales fell again last month as inventory constraints and volatile mortgage rates sapped demand, according to data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). 

Existing home sales — completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops — declined by 3.4 percent from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.28 million units.  

Year-over-year sales fell by 23.2 percent. Total housing inventory increased by 7.2 percent month-on-month to 1.04 million units.   

“Home sales are bouncing back and forth but remain above recent cyclical lows,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. 

“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,” he added. 

The median existing-home price for all housing types declined by 1.2 percent year-over-year in April to $388,800, although they rose in half the of country. 

“Roughly half of the country is experiencing price gains,” Yun continued. “Even in markets with lower prices, primarily the expensive West region, multiple-offer situations have returned in the spring buying season following the calmer winter market. Distressed and forced property sales are virtually nonexistent.” 

Separate figures released Tuesday by the Census Bureau showed new construction picked up last month, led by a 5.2 percent jump in multifamily housing. Overall housing starts rose 2.2 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.40 million. 

Single-family starts moved to their highest level in 2022, increasing by 1.6 percent to an 846,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate, and econmists expect further improvement on the single-family side should the Federal Reserve pause its interest rate hikes. 

“As the Federal Reserve nears the end of its tightening of financial conditions, we expect mortgage rates to moderate in the months ahead, and this will lead to a gradual improvement in single-family production,” National Association of Homebuilders Chief Economist Robert Dietz said in a statement.