Existing Home Sales Continue Collapse To 9-Year Lows

Existing Home Sales in April plunged 17.8% MoM to the lowest SAAR since September 2011 (at 4.33mm, slightly better than the 4.22mm exp)…

Source: Bloomberg

This is the largest drop since the government’s homebuyer tax credit expired in July 2010 (the two month drop is around 25% SAAR)

Source: Bloomberg

Additionally, the median home price increased 7.4% from a year earlier to $286,800.

“The economic lockdowns – occurring from mid-March through April in most states – have temporarily disrupted home sales,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in a statement.

“But the listings that are on the market are still attracting buyers and boosting home prices.”

Inventory was down 19.7% last month from a year ago to 1.47 million units, the lowest on record for any April. The number of homes for sale would last 4.1 months at the current sales pace. Anything below five months is seen as a tight market.

Existing home sales slumped in all U.S. regions in April, led by a 25% drop in the West from a month earlier. Contract closings also fell 17.9% in the South, 12% in the Midwest and 16.9% in the Northeast.