U.S. Existing Home Sales Rise Modestly in May; Home Prices Move Higher

Existing home sales rose 0.8% (-0.7% y/y) in May to 4.03 million units after falling 0.5% to an unrevised 4.00 million units in April and declining 5.9% to an unrevised 4.020 million units in March, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected a decline to 3.95 million unit sales. The May sales gain accompanied a rise in the effective 30-year mortgage interest rate to an average 6.82% in May from averaged 6.73% in April. The sales figures are based on closings of sales signed over the past couple of months.

Existing single-family home sales rose 1.1% (0.3% y/y) during May to 3.67 million units after a 0.3% slip to 3.6 million in April and a 6.4% decline to 3.64 million in March. Sales of condos and co-ops weakened 2.7% (-10.0% y/y) to 360,000 after falling 2.6% in April.

Sales patterns were mixed across the country last month. Sales in the Northeast rose 4.2% both m/m and y/y to 500,000 following three consecutive 2.0% declines. Sales in the Midwest rose 2.1% (1.0% y/y) to 990,000, the same as in April. Sales in the South rose 1.7% (-0.5% y/y) to 1.84 million after holding steady in April. Weakening by 5.4% (-6.7% y/y) were sales in the West, falling to 700,000 units after declining 3.9% in April.

The median price average of all existing homes (NSA) strengthened 2.1% (1.3% y/y) to $422,800 in May, up for the fourth straight month. Prices were at the highest level since June 2024. The median price of an existing single-family home rose 2.3% (1.3% y/y) to $427,800 in May and the median price of condos & co-ops improved 0.3% (0.7% y/y) to $371,300 last month. Prices for homes in the West rose 0.8% (0.5% y/y) to $633,500 while prices in the Northeast increased 5.3% (7.1% y/y) to $513,300. In the South, prices rose 0.7% (-0.7% y/y) to $367,800 while in the Midwest, home prices strengthened 4.2% (3.4% y/y) to $326,400.

The number of existing homes for sale (NSA) rose 6.2% (20.3% y/y) to 1.54 million units in May, the fifth straight month of strong increase. The supply of homes on the market at the current selling rate (NSA) increased to 4.6 months, the highest level in nine years, up from a low of 1.6 months in January 2022.

The data on existing home sales, prices and affordability are compiled by the National Association of Realtors. The data on single-family home sales extend back to February 1968. Total sales and price data and regional sales can be found in Haver's USECON database. Regional price and affordability data and national inventory data are available in the REALTOR database. Mortgage interest rates can be found in the WEEKLY database. The expectations figure is from the Action Economics Forecast Survey, reported in the AS1REPNA database.

Unintended Policy Shifts and Unexpected Consequences is the title of today’s speech by Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle W. Bowman and it can be found here.