May 2017 Existing-Home Sales

NAR released a summary of existing-home sales data showing that housing market activity this May rose modestly 1.1 percent from last month and improved 2.7 percent from last year. May’s existing home sales reached the 5.62 million seasonally adjusted annual rate.
The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $252,800 in May, up 5.8 percent from a year ago. This marks 63rd consecutive month of year over year’s gains as prices rise for potential homebuyers.
Regionally, all four regions showed growth in prices from a year ago, with the Midwest leading all regions with an incline of 7.3 percent. The West had a gain of 6.9 percent followed by the South with a gain of 5.3 percent. The Northeast had the smallest gain of 4.7 percent from May 2016.
From April, three of the four regions experienced gains in sales. The Northeast inclined 6.8 percent. The West had an incline of 3.4 percent while the South had a 2.2 percent gain in sales. The Midwest had the only decline of 5.9 percent, a result of job losses and price gains.
Three of the four regions showed an increase in sales from a year ago with the South leading with an incline of 4.5 percent. The West had a gain of 3.4 percent. The Northeast had an incline of 2.6 percent. The Midwest had the only decline of 0.8 percent. The South headed all regions in percentage of national sales at 41.6 percent while the Northeast has the smallest share at 13.9 percent.
May’s inventory figures are up 2.1 percent from last month to 1.96 million homes for sale. Inventories are down 8.4 percent from a year ago which is 24 months of year over year declines. It will take 4.2 months to move the current level of inventory at the current sales pace. Transactions are moving faster and it takes approximately 27 days for a home to go from listing to a contract in the current housing market, down from 32 days a year ago.
In May, single-family sales increased 1.0 percent and condominiums sales were up 1.6 percent compared to last month. Single-family home sales inclined 2.7 percent and condominium sales were up 3.2 percent compared to a year ago. Both single-family and condominiums had an increase in price with single-family up 6.0 percent at $254,600 and condominiums up 4.8 percent at $238,700 from May 2016.