Interest Rate Roundup

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Existing home sales slip in April

Existing home sales figures for April were just released. Sales dipped 0.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million from 5.09 million a month earlier. That missed expectations for a reading of 5.2 million, and was down 12.9% from a year earlier.

Single-family sales fell 0.5%, while condominium and co-op sales slumped 3.1%. The Midwest was the only region showing a gain (5.7%). Sales fell 1% in the South, 1.6% in the West, and 7.5% in the Northeast.

The months supply at current sales pace indicator of inventory rose to 9.2 from 8.3; that was the highest since November. The raw number of homes for sale fell 3.9% from a year ago to a still-elevated 3.87 million. The median price of a used home rose 2.4% to $163,700 from $159,800 a month earlier. But that was still down 5% from a year ago.

The latest used home sales figures confirm what we've already seen in other reports. Sales remain lackluster, inventories remain elevated, and pricing remains weak. Buyers see little reason to jump into the market, given the ongoing economic weakness and concern about the future direction of home prices.

1 Comments:

  • Yo Mike! You were alluding to and showed confidence in a turn around last April (2010).

    It may have gotten you some face time on the networks, and put you in line with results of the housing tax credit results last May-July.

    But for someone who works for Weiss Ratings, I would have appreciated a longer term honest evaluation last Spring.

    Again, I look to you and Weiss for more long term truth of the market. Keep up the good work. I have learned a lot from you and Martin.

    - T

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at May 22, 2011 at 6:18 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home


 
Site Meter