Existing home sales grew 1.7% to a seasonally adjusted 5.45 million-unit rate in April from a revised 5.7% gain to a 5.36 million sales pace, first reported as a 5.1% increase to a 5.33 million pace the previous month, the National Association of Realtors announced Friday.
The April rate represents a 6.0% increase from the same month a year ago, and surpassed the median 5.40 million unit pace predicted by economists polled by Thomson Reuters.
"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 NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. "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."
Sales in the regions were mixed in April. They were up 2.8% in the Northeast and 12.1% in the Midwest, but down 2.7% in the South, and 1.7% in the West.
The median sales price was $232,200 in April, a 6.3% increase from a year ago.
Inventory levels grew 9.2% from the previous month to 2.14 million existing homes, representing a 4.7-month supply at the current pace. Inventory was down 3.5% from the April 2015 level.
