- Prior was 4.02m (revised to 4.04m)
- Sales +3.2% vs +0.2% prior
- Median sale prices +1.3% to $429,300.
- 4.5 months of supply, unchanged vs April
“More Americans are on the move, with home sales rising to the highest
level since December. This is great news for the housing market and the
economy,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Improving
affordability is helping drive this momentum. Even with mortgage rates
ticking up compared to earlier in the year, they remain lower than a
year ago and are essentially at the long-term historical average. Income
gains are also outpacing home price growth by a small margin in most
parts of the country.”
Yun continued, “The new record-high May home price reflects solid fundamentals for homeowners and ongoing supply constraints.”
There is some regional variance that underscored by the y/y numbers:
- Northeast -8.0% y/y
- Midwest +2.0% y/y
- South +5.9% y/y
- West +5.6% y/y
I think that reflects the high initial prices in the Northeast combined with the steady stream of Boomer retiring in warmer climates.
Separately, the wholesale inventories report:
- Wholesale inventories +0.6% vs +0.5% expected
- Wholesale sales +2.0% vs +2.4% expected
This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.
