Analysis
May 21, 2016
Existing Home Sales Keep Momentum for 2nd Month
Written by Sandy Williams
The National Association of Realtors reports existing home sales in April rose 1.7 percent from March for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.45 million. Sales were 6.0 percent higher than in April 2015.
“Primarily driven by a convincing jump in the Midwest, where home prices are most affordable, sales activity overall was at a healthy pace last month as very low mortgage rates and modest seasonal inventory gains encouraged more households to search for and close on a home,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “Except for in the West — where supply shortages and stark price growth are hampering buyers the most — sales are meaningfully higher than a year ago in much of the country.”
