The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released a report on Wednesday indicating that U.S. existing home sales experienced an unexpected decline in April. According to the report, sales fell by 1.9% to an annual rate of 4.14 million, following a 3.7% decrease in March, which had been revised to 4.22 million.
Economists had predicted a 0.5% increase, expecting sales to rise to an annual rate of 4.21 million from the originally reported 4.19 million in the previous month. Despite this forecast, the decline continued to offset the high of 4.38 million reached in February, which was a one-year peak.
The report also noted a significant increase in total housing inventory, which surged by 9.0% to 1.21 million units at the end of April, up from 1.11 million units in March, and 16.3% higher than the 1.04 million units recorded a year ago. The unsold inventory now represents a 3.5-month supply at the current sales pace, compared to 3.2 months in March and 3.0 months in April 2023.
In terms of pricing, the median existing home price saw a substantial increase of 5.7%, reaching $407,600 in April, compared to $385,800 in the same month last year. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun commented on this development, stating, "Home prices reaching a record high for the month of April is very good news for homeowners. However, the pace of price increases should taper off since more housing inventory is becoming available."
Looking ahead, the Commerce Department is set to release a separate report on new home sales for April on Thursday. Economists anticipate that new home sales will decrease by 1.9% to an annual rate of 680,000, following an 8.8% increase to 693,000 in March.
