Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
Existing-home sales were up in May, increasing by 5.1 percent from April and jumping 9.2 percent year over year.
About 5.35 million existing single-family, townhouses, condominiums and co-ops sold in the U.S. in May, according to the National Association of Realtors. A growing number of first-time buyers contributed to the increase in sales.
“Overall supply still remains tight, homes are selling fast and price growth in many markets continues to teeter at or near double-digit appreciation,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, says.
The median existing-home price was $228,700, up 7.9 percent from May 2014.
“Without solid gains in new home construction, prices will likely stay elevated—even with higher mortgage rates above 4 percent,” Yun says.
On average in May, properties stayed on the market for 40 days, but 45 percent of the homes sold throughout the month were on the market less than a month, according to the association.
For more information about the data from the National Association of Realtors, click here.
