The index shows that all regions are showing strong price gains from a year ago and sales increased by 0.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million in April from an upwardly revised 4.94 million in March.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the market is solidly recovering. ‘The robust housing market recovery is occurring in spite of tight access to credit and limited inventory. Without these frictions, existing home sales easily would be well above the five million unit pace,’ he explained.
‘Buyer traffic is 31% stronger than a year ago, but sales are running only about 10% higher. It’s become quite clear that the only way to tame price growth to a manageable, healthy pace is higher levels of new home construction,’ he added.
Existing home sales are at the highest pace since November 2009 when the market spiked at 5.44 million in response to the home buyer tax credit. Total sales have been above year ago levels for 22 consecutive months, while prices show 14 consecutive months of year on year increases.
Total housing inventory at the end of April rose 11.9%, a seasonal increase to 2.16 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 5.2 month supply at the current sales pace, compared with 4.7 months in March. Listed inventory is 13.6% below a year ago, when there was a 6.6 month supply, with current availability tighter in the lower price ranges.
The national median existing home price for all housing types was $192,800 in April, up 11% from April 2012. The last time there were 14 consecutive months of year on year price increases was from April 2005 to May 2006.
Distressed homes, that is foreclosures and short sales, accounted for 18% of April sales, down from 21% in March and 28% in April 2012. Some 11% of April sales were foreclosures and 7% were short sales. Foreclosures sold for an average discount of 16% below market value in April, while short sales were discounted 14%.
The median time on market for all homes was 46 days in April, down sharply from 62 days in March, and is 45% faster than the 83 days on market in April 2012. NAR President Gary Thomas, said that with homes selling in half the time it took to sell a year ago, buyers must be both decisive and prudent.
First time buyers accounted for 29% of purchases in April, compared with 30% in March and 35% in April 2012. All cash sales amounted to 32% of transactions in April, up from 30% in March and 29% in April 2012. Individual investors, who account for most cash sales, purchased 19% of homes in April, unchanged from March.
Single family home sales rose 1.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.38 million in April from 4.33 million in March, and are 9% above the 4.02 million unit level in April 2012. The median existing single family home price was $193,300 in April, which is 11% above a year ago.
Existing condominium and co-op sales declined 3.3% to an annualised rate of 590,000 units in April from 610,000 in March, but are 15.7% above the 510,000 unit pace a year ago. The median existing condo price was $189,500 in April, up 11.3% from April 2012.
Regionally, existing home sales in the north east rose 1.6% and are 4.9% above April 2012. The median price in the north east was $245,100, up 5.1% from a year ago.
Existing home sales in the Mid west fell 3.4% in April but are 9.8% above a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $149,300, up 6.7% from April 2012.
In the South, existing home sales rose 2% and are 14.9% above April 2012. The median price in the South was $168,700, which is 10.6% above a year ago.
Existing home sales in the West increased 1.7% and are 4.3% above a year ago. Given limited choices and multiple bidding, the median price in the West was $263,600, up 17.5% from April 2012.
