Economy: Existing Home Sales During May 2020

The Existing Home Sales report for May 2020 was released by The National Association of Realtors® (NAR®) this morning:

Predicted: 4,100,000
Actual: 3,910,000

Change from Previous Month: -9.7% (-420,000 homes)
Change from One Year Previous: -26.642% (-1,420,000 homes)

==========

Inventory: 1,550,000 (4.8 months supply)

==========

The yellow-highlighted, "actual" figure above represents the preliminary, seasonally adjusted annualized sales count of existing homes, co-ops and condominiums for the indicated month. The "predicted" figure is what economists were expecting, while the "actual" is the true or real figure.

------------------------------------------------------

Median Price for A Used Home During May 2020: $284,600

Change from One Year Previous: +2.301% (+$6,400)

---------

Average Price for A Used Home During May 2020: $319,300

Change from One Year Previous: +1.494% (+$4,700)

------------------------------------------------------

==========

Click here for historical prices and a chart.

==========

From Today's Report:

"...Existing-home sales fell in May, marking a three-month decline in sales as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Each of the four major regions witnessed dips in month-over-month and year-over-year sales, with the Northeast experiencing the greatest month-over-month drop.

'Sales completed in May reflect contract signings in March and April – during the strictest times of the pandemic lockdown and hence the cyclical low point,' said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. 'Home sales will surely rise in the upcoming months with the economy reopening, and could even surpass one-year-ago figures in the second half of the year.'

The median existing-home price for all housing types in May was $284,600, up 2.3% from May 2019 ($278,200), as prices increased in every region. May’s national price increase marks 99 straight months of year-over-year gains.

'New home construction needs to robustly ramp up in order to meet rising housing demand,' Yun said. 'Otherwise, home prices will rise too fast and hinder first-time buyers, even at a time of record-low mortgage rates.'

Properties typically remained on the market for 26 days in May, seasonally down from 27 days in April, but equal to 26 days in May 2019. Fifty-eight percent of homes sold in May 2020 were on the market for less than a month.

First-time buyers were responsible for 34% of sales in May, down from 36% in April 2020 and up from 32% in May 2019. NAR’s 2019 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers – released in late 20194 – revealed that the annual share of first-time buyers was 33%.

'Although the real estate industry faced some very challenging circumstances over the last several months, we’re seeing signs of improvement and growth, and I’m hopeful the worst is behind us,' said NAR President Vince Malta, broker at Malta & Co., Inc., in San Francisco, Calif. 'NAR, along with our partners and 1.4 million members, are already working to reignite America’s real estate industry, which will be a key driver in our nation’s economic recovery.'

According to Freddie Mac, the average commitment rate (link is external) for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage decreased to 3.23% in May, down from 3.31% in April. The average commitment rate across all of 2019 was 3.94%..."