Existing home sales were essentially flat in April, rising just 0.2% from March as high mortgage rates, limited inventory, and ongoing economic uncertainty sidelined buyers.
Home sales hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.02 million last month and were flat compared to a year ago, according to National Association of Realtors data released on Monday. Although housing affordability has improved slightly in the past year, those gains haven’t been enough to bring a rush of new buyers into the market.
Month over month, sales improved in the South and the Midwest, while they were flat in the Northeast and fell in the West.
“Lower mortgage rates, better affordability — I thought would do the trick,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said. “Yet the sales number, at least as of April, is still not rising in any meaningful way. So that’s surprising to me.”
Read more: How to get the lowest mortgage rates right now
Mortgage rates fell in April from recent highs but remain above where they were before the start of the Iran war. Many homes that were sold in April went under contract in March, when rates were higher. Some measures of consumer sentiment, meanwhile, are at a record low.
For-sale inventory continues to improve, rising 5.8% from March to 1.47 million. While those are the best figures for April since 2019, they remain far below typical pre-pandemic levels. In April 2019, 1.83 million homes were for sale.
Claire Boston is a Senior Reporter for Yahoo Finance covering housing, mortgages, and home insurance.
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