Hampered by a limited supply, existing home sales declined 1.5 percent in May, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced on Thursday.
Hampered by a limited supply, existing home sales declined 1.5 percent in May, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced on Thursday.
Still, the NAR reiterated that the market is on an "uphill trend" compared with year-ago figures. While overall existing home sales-including single-family homes, condos and co-ops-declined in May to an adjusted annual rate of 4.55 million from 4.62 million in April, the latest figure is 9.6 percent above the 4.15-million-unit pace in May 2011.
Sales of single-family homes mirrored these trends. Single-family home sales slipped 1.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.05 million in May from 4.09 million in April, but they are 10.4 percent above the 3.67-million-unit level set in May 2011.
"The slight pullback in monthly home sales is more likely due to supply constraints rather than softening demand. The normal seasonal upturn in inventory did not occur this spring," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. "Even with the monthly decline, home sales have moved markedly higher with 11 consecutive months of gains over the same month a year earlier."
Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast fell 4.8 percent to an annual level of 590,000 in May but are 7.3 percent higher than May 2011. Sales in the Midwest rose 1.0 percent in May to a pace of 1.04 million and are 19.5 percent above a year ago. In the South, sales slipped 0.6 percent to an annual level of 1.78 million in May but are 9.2 percent higher than May 2011. And in the West, sales declined 3.4 percent to an annual pace of 1.14 million in May but are 3.6 percent above a year ago.