Economy: Existing Home Sales During May 2022

The Existing Home Sales report for May 2022 was released by The National Association of Realtors® (NAR®) this morning:

Predicted: 5,400,000
Actual: 5,410,000

Change from Previous Month: -3.39% (-190,000 homes)
Change from One Year Previous: -8.61% (-510,000 homes)

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Inventory: 1,160,000 (2.6 months supply; -4.1% year-on-year.)

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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.

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Median Price During May 2022: $407,600 (New Record-High)
Price Change from One Year Previous: +14.82% (+$52,600)

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Click here for historical prices and a chart.

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From Today's Report:

"...'Home sales have essentially returned to the levels seen in 2019 – prior to the pandemic – after two years of gangbuster performance,' said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. 'Also, the market movements of single-family and condominium sales are nearly equal, possibly implying that the preference towards suburban living over city life that had been present over the past two years is fading with a return to pre-pandemic conditions.'

'Further sales declines should be expected in the upcoming months given housing affordability challenges from the sharp rise in mortgage rates this year,' Yun added. 'Nonetheless, homes priced appropriately are selling quickly and inventory levels still need to rise substantially -- almost doubling -- to cool home price appreciation and provide more options for home buyers.'

Properties typically remained on the market for 16 days in May, down from 17 days in April and 17 days in May 2021. Eighty-eight percent of homes sold in May 2022 were on the market for less than a month.

All-cash sales accounted for 25% of transactions in May, down from 26% in April and up from 23% recorded in May 2021.

Distressed sales -- foreclosures and short sales -- represented less than 1% of sales in May, essentially unchanged from April 2022 and May 2021.

Realtor.com®'s Market Trends Report(link is external) in May shows that the largest year-over-year median list price growth occurred in Miami (+45.9%), Nashville (+32.5%), and Orlando (+32.4%). Austin reported the highest growth in the share of homes that had their prices reduced compared to last year (+14.7 percentage points), followed by Las Vegas (+12.3 percentage points) and Phoenix (+11.6 percentage points)..."