Home Sales Pace Up

Sales of existing homes in the USA went up by 2.04% last month, to almost 5 million homes. That's well below last May (2007), by a negative 15.85%.

That's well below last April, by a negative 17.54%.

For a month to month comparison, sales were up in the West but down or flat in the rest of the country.

Sales Pace by Region

For month-to-month comparisons, sales were up everywhere except in the South, which was down by only -.52%. The sales pace was up by 5.45% in the Midwest, 4.6% in the Northeast, and 2.0% in the West.

That is month-to-month. Year-to-year presents a different picture. Nationwide, we have already talked about the sales pace (it was down -15.85%). In the South, sales were slower by -16.96%, -16.55% in the Midwest, -14.95% in the Northeast, and -12.82% in the West.

This measure tracks units - condominiums, co-ops, and single family home. What "sales pace" means is that the National Association of Realtors calculates how many homes were sold, makes adjustments for seasonal factors like weather, school, vacations, then calculates how many homes would sell in a year at that given pace. When we use raw data, we try to state that clearly.

Next Report & Definitions

June sales pace figures (and other statistics) released at the very end of July. All figures in this report based on May closings and statistics, the most recent available.

The median average is the "midpoint" sales price. Half the homes sold were above that price and half below.

Home Prices Fall Again

Nationally, the median average sales price fell compared to last year, down by 6.33%. The new median average sales price of a home was $208,600. The Midwest showed the smallest decline of -0.72%, followed by reductions of value by -2.93% in the Northeast, -4.72% in the South, and -16.0% in the West.

We compare values to the same period a year ago. We do not use month-to-month comparisons because there are sometimes huge fluctuations in the size of houses that sell in different seasons. Larger houses sell during the summer when it is more convenient for families to move.

Inventory Down

It would take 10.8 months to sell all the existing homes currently available on the market at the current sales pace, but there are fewer homes on the market in May than in April.

There are 4.485 million homes listed for sale. We're selling less than five million a year.

We measure inventory in two ways. "How many homes are available for sale?" and "How many months would it take to sell the total number of homes available for sale right now, at the current sales pace?" When the sales pace declines, inventory measured in months will increase, even if the same number of homes is for sale.