Home buyers and sellers get good home sale news today

Good news all around for home buyers and sellers in today’s existing home sales report from the National Association of Realtors. Existing home sales tallies up all home sales that aren’t new construction and gives us insight into the wider real estate market.

Existing Home Sales (May 2019)

-Existing home sales up 2.5% in May, the first increase in 2 months

-We’re now on track for 5.34 million annual existing home sales

-Median home price up 4.8% from May 2018—increased from $265,100 to $277,700

-Number of homes on the market increased from 1.83 million to 1.92 million

-At current rate of sales, this inventory will last 4.3 months, an increase from April 2019 and year-over-year

-Average time a home spent on the market in May: 26 days, up from 24 in April

-53% of homes sold in less than a month

-32% of buyers were first-time buyers

-75% of home sales priced below $500k

-However, 12.4% decrease in home sales priced below $100k

-Hottest housing markets: Rochester, New York, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Lafayette-West Lafayette, Indiana, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Massachusetts, and Midland, Texas.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR ME?

There’s good news in here for both home sellers and home buyers. Sellers should be happy that median home prices went up, which shows healthy demand from buyers. Buyers should be pleased to see an increase in inventory.

Total sales are down year-over-year, but not so down that anyone should worry about the health of the real estate market. In any case, forward-looking indicators show we’re in good shape anyways.

Having said all that, all real estate is street-level.

The deals you’ll make will be specific to your market, and your new neighborhood won’t always conform to national trends.

But knowing these numbers will give you insight into wider trends the real estate agents on both sides of the negotiating table are thinking about.

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Reference:

– Why U.S. Housing Market May Be Healthier Than We Think (The Basis Point)