Inventory of homes available for sale hit the highest mark since October 2022, data shows.
The inventory of existing homes for sale rose to 1.2 million in April, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), marking the highest point since October 2022, as prices and borrowing costs remain elevated.
Compared to March, the available unsold homes in the market was up 9 percent, to 3.5 months’ worth of supply and jumped more than 16 percent from the same time a year ago, NAR reported.
The Context
Sales of existing homes fell by nearly 2 percent to a yearly rate of 4.14 million amid prices that have gone up by close to 6 percent. This has brought the median price to about $408,000, which Realtors say is the 10th straight month of annual price increases and the highest price ever for April.
Sales were also down across regions of the country. The Midwest saw sales drop by 1 percent in April, on a monthly basis. But prices were up 6 percent, to nearly $304,000, from this time last year. Sales in the Northeast fell 4 percent for the month and prices shot up 8.5 percent, to $485,000. The South reported a 1.6 percent decline in sales while prices accelerated nearly 4 percent, to about $366,000. The West registered a drop of 2.6 percent in home sales. The median price in the region soared more than 9 percent, to nearly $630,000.
Single-family home sales dropped at an annual rate of 3.74 million, a 2.1 percent decline from March, with prices up 5.6 percent in April compared to a year ago. Condominiums and co-op sales were unchanged, even as prices shot up more than 5 percent, to about $365,000.
