April is set to see a decrease in existing home sales, according to Ten-X, an online real estate transaction marketplace.
Ten-X’s Residential Real Estate Nowcast indicates a slight decrease in existing home sales in April that will fall between 5.4 million and 5.76 million with a targeted number of 5.66 million. This is a decrease of 0.7% from the National Association of Realtors’ reported March sales.
“We anticipated a strong Spring selling season, driven primarily by pent-up demand and accelerating household formation numbers, and sales activity in March and April has been the best we've seen in a while,” Ten-X Executive Vice President Rick Sharga said. “But some of this activity may also be due to buyers jumping into the market before interest rates rise any higher, so it's possible that we may see sales slowdown later in the year.”
Pending home sales dropped in March, an indicator that April’s existing home sales will slip lower.
Last month, the company predicted home sales would fall between seasonally adjusted rates of 5.41 and 5.77 million with a targeted number of 5.59 million. NAR’s report came in at 5.71 million.
Ten-X predicts April’s median home price will increase to between $230,050 and $254,266 with a targeted price of $242,158. This would mark an increase of 2.4% from March and 4.2% from last year.
“The US housing market continues to advance, owing to a strong labor market and rising wages,” Ten-X Chief Economist Peter Muoio said. “Though low inventory levels remain a constraint and have spurred strong price gains, further eroding affordability, demand remains healthy and housing fundamentals continue to improve.”
