The National Association of Realtors reports Existing-Home Sales Retract 2.4% in April

Report Highlights 

Existing-home sales fell for the third straight month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.61 million. 

Sales were down 2.4% from the prior month and 5.9% from one year ago.

With slower demand, the inventory of unsold existing homes climbed to 1.03 million by the end of April, or the equivalent of 2.2 months of the monthly sales pace.

The median existing-home sales price increased at a slower year-over-year pace of 14.8% to $391,200.

All-cash sales accounted for 26% of transactions in April, down from 28% in March and up from the 25% recorded in April 2021.

Individual investors or second-home buyers, who make up many cash sales, purchased 17% of homes in April, down from 18% in March and equal to 17% in April 2021.

According to Freddie Mac, the average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage was 4.98% in April, up from 4.17% in March. The average commitment rate(link is external) across all of 2021 was 2.96%.

"The market is quite unusual as sales are coming down, but listed homes are still selling swiftly, and home prices are much higher than a year ago," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.

The NAR's PowerPoint Presentation has many interesting charts worth a review.