WASHINGTON — Existing home sales rose 1.3% to a seasonally adjusted 4.65 million unit rate in April from an unrevised 4.59 million pace the previous month, the National Association of Realtors announced Thursday.
The April rate is the first increase of the year but still represents a 6.8% decrease from April 2013, and was less than the 4.69 million rate predicted by economists polled by Thomson Reuters.
Housing inventory levels spiked 16.8% from the previous month to 2.29 million existing homes, representing a 5.9-month supply at the current pace. Inventory was up 6.5% from the April 2013 level.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said an increase of inventory, a shortage of which has been constraining the housing market, makes him hopeful that monthly numbers will continue to trend up. Yun said a major wild card is housing policy, where federal officials have signaled an intention to relax mortgage underwriting standards. Housing starts still need to increase to keep the trends positive, Yun added
"There are insufficient housing units being built," he said.
April sales were flat in the Northeast and down 1% in the Midwest, but up 1% in the South and 4.9% in the West.
The April median sales price was $201,700, a 5.2% increase from a year ago.
