Monthly sales of pre-owned residential properties rose. Record prices are being paid for existing homes as properties fly off the market. Time on market was a record low.
On a preliminary basis, there were 555,000 existing single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-operatives sold during May.
That was greater than the revised 447,000 in the preceding month and the single best month for existing home sales since June 2016’s volume of 582,000.
The source of the residential sales data was the National Association of Realtors, which reported the numbers Wednesday.
Home
sales totaled 2.091 million from Jan. 1, 2017, through May 31.
During May 2016, there were 525,000 existing home sales.
Adjusting the data for seasonal factors, the annual rate of home sales was 5.62 million last month. Sales ascended from an annual rate of 5.56 million in April and 5.47 million in the same month last year.
“The job market in most of the country is healthy and the recent downward trend in mortgage rates continues to keep buyer interest at a robust level,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in the report.
Yun added that listings in the affordable price range are scarce. He noted that homes are coming off the market as multiple offers that are prevalent push prices higher.
In the Northeast, May 2017’s annual rate was 0.78 million, up from the previous month by 7 percent — the biggest gain of any region. Sales in the West climbed 3 percent to a 1.22 million rate, and a 2 percent gain in the South left the rate there at 2.34 million.
In the Midwest the annual rate was 1.28 million, falling 6 percent from the prior report.
For only U.S. single-family home sales, the annual rate was 4.98 million.
The median U.S. home price was
$252,800 — surpassing the June 2016 peak of $247,600.
The average home price was
$294,600.
An inventory of 1.96 million was reported as of May 31. At the average 27 days on the market — which is the lowest since NAR began tracking the data in 2011 — it would take 4.2 months to clear out the supply.
“With new and existing supply failing to catch up with demand, several markets this summer will continue to see homes going under contract at this remarkably fast pace of under a month,” Yun said.
First-time buyers made up a third of last month’s transactions.
All-cash sales were 22 percent, and distressed sales made up 5 percent.
