May house sales are increasing very slightly, but prices have reached another high record

Sales of previously owned houses increased very slightly in May, up 0.8% compared to April, at an annualized rate of 4.03 million units of 4.03 million season units, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Housing analysts had a drop of 1%. Sales were less than 0.7% in May of last year.

Sales were the strongest in the northeast, up 4.2% from month to month. They also increased in the Midwest and the South, but they fell to the west, down 5.4%. The West is the most expensive region of the country, according to Nar.

This count is based on the closures, so that the contracts were probably signed in March and April. The average rate on the 30 -year fixed mortgage was stable in March, but then fired above, More than 7% in April.

“Relatively moderate sales are largely due to persistent mortgage rates.” If mortgage rates decrease in the second half of this year, expect home sales across the country to increase due to strong income growth, healthy inventory and record number of jobs. “

A big leap in the offer of houses for sale was probably behind the small sales gain from April. There were 1.54 million units available at the end of May, an increase of more than 20% compared to May of last year. At the current sale rate, this represents a 4.6 -month supply, which is always historically on the light side.

And that’s why there is still pressure on prices. The median price of an existing house sold in May was $ 422,800, up 1.3% of one year on the other. It is a record for the month of May.

The demand is always strong compared to the supply; Consequently, 28% of houses sold above the list price, up compared to the 18% of last month, but down slightly from 30% in May 2024.

Sales were stronger on the highest end of the market because there is more supply there, but it dropped in the $ 1 million range compared to a year ago. The only price range where they increased was for the range of $ 750,000 to $ 1 million, which experienced a relatively low increase of 1%, said NAR.

“The upper final market does not show any difference compared to other prices. Over the past 20 months, we have seen the upper end surpass, but this is no longer the case,” said Yun, suggesting that this could be the residual effect of stock market volatility when the prices were announced for the first time in April.

The houses take more time to sell at 27 days against 24 a year ago. Only 30% of buyers were the first timers, compared to 31% last year and still quite low, and 27% of all transactions were in any case, an increase compared to the previous year.