Existing-home sales rose 3.2 percent month-over-month and year-over-year in May, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.17 million, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.
The median existing-home price reached $429,300, up 1.3 percent from a year ago, the 35th consecutive month of year-over-year price increases, according to NAR.
Inventory rose 3.3 percent from April to 1.55 million units, representing a 4.5-month supply. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.44 percent in May, up from 6.33 percent in April but down from 6.82 percent a year ago, according to Freddie Mac.
“More Americans are on the move, with home sales rising to the highest level since December,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in the report. “Improving affordability is helping drive this momentum.”
The Housing Affordability Index registered at 105.6, up from 97.5 a year ago. Affordability improved year-over-year across all four regions, with the West posting the largest gain at 11 percent.
Despite a strengthening labor market, 172,000 net new jobs added in May and a record-high number of job-holders nationally, consumer sentiment remains at historic lows, Yun wrote in a separate analysis June 5. He attributed the disconnect to housing affordability challenges and declining homeownership rates, particularly among younger households.
Lawrence Yun
First-time homebuyers accounted for 35 percent of sales in May, up from 33 percent in April and 30 percent one year ago. Properties spent a median of 29 days on market, down from 32 days in April.
“What’s driving sales right now isn’t a broad recovery,” Kamini Lane, CEO and president of Coldwell Banker Realty, said in a statement provided to Inman. “Two groups of buyers are navigating very different markets: those for whom rates are a factor but not the deciding one, and those who are waiting for rates to fall before they can make a move.”
Sales rose month-over-month in the Northeast, Midwest and South and were unchanged in the West. Year-over-year, the Northeast was the only region to record a decline, falling 8 percent.
