Sales of the nation’s pre-owned homes turned higher for the third month in a row. Sales and home prices in the Midwest are seeing the most improvement.
In April there were 471,000 existing U.S. homes sold, more than the 421,000 sales a month earlier. The figures don’t reflect any adjustments for seasonality.
Existing home sales have risen each month since January of this year, when there were 302,000 previously owned residential properties that changed hands.
The National Association of Realtors reported the data, which includes sales of single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-operatives.
Home sales also rose from April 2015, when the total was 449,000.
During the first-four months of 2016, there have been 1.508 million existing homes sold.
NAR’s data indicate that volume was up 22 percent from March in the Northeast, the biggest gain of any region. A 20 percent increase was clocked for the Midwest, while sales were up 8 percent in the West and 7 percent in the South.
The latest activity put the seasonally adjusted annual rate of U.S. home sales at 5.450 million, rising from March’s upwardly revised rate of 5.360 million.
An even bigger gain was made compared to the 5.140 million rate in April 2015.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate was up 12 percent from March in the Midwest to 1.390 million. A 3 percent increase in the Northeast left the rate there at 0.740 million.
But the West’s seasonally adjusted annual rate rate dropped 2 percent to 1.130 million,
and the South saw a 3 percent decline to 2.190 million.
The seasonally adjusted inventory of U.S. existing homes for sale was 2.140 million in April 2016. The inventory grew from 1.960 million a month earlier but was smaller than 2.220 million a year earlier.
At the most-recent pace of sales, the inventory worked out a 4.7 month supply, longer than the 4.4 months in March but shorter than the 5.2 months in April 2015.
The median sales price of a U.S. home last month was $232,500, rising 6.3 percent from the same month last year.
The average sales price climbed 4.2 percent to $275,000.
Year-over-year appreciation was greatest in the Midwest at 6.8 percent and lowest in the Northeast at 1.9 percent.
“Primarily driven by a convincing jump in the Midwest, where home prices are most affordable, sales activity overall was at a healthy pace last month as very low mortgage rates and modest seasonal inventory gains encouraged more households to search for and close on a home,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun explained in the report.
Yun added that upcoming sales could be constrained if wages don’t rise and price growth doesn’t slow.
All-cash sales accounted for 24 percent of last month’s activity, distressed sales made up 7 percent and first-time buyer share was 32 percent.
