by Calculated Risk on 5/24/2010 10:00:00 AM

The NAR reports: Existing-Home Sales Rise

Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 7.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million units in April from an upwardly revised 5.36 million in March, and are 22.8 percent higher than the 4.70 million-unit pace in April 2009.
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Total housing inventory at the end of April rose 11.5 percent to 4.04 million existing homes available for sale, which represents an 8.4-month supply at the current sales pace, up from an 8.1-month supply in March.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows existing home sales, on a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) basis since 1993.

Sales in April 2010 (5.77 million SAAR) were 7% higher than last month, and were 22.8% higher than April 2009 (4.61 million SAAR).

Sales surged last November when many first-time homebuyers rushed to beat the initial expiration of the tax credit. There will probably be a further increase in May and June this year. Note: existing home sales are counted at closing, so even though contracts must be signed in April to qualify for the tax credit, buyers have until June 30th to close.

The second graph shows nationwide inventory for existing homes.

According to the NAR, inventory increased to 4.04 million in April from 3.63 million in March. The all time record high was 4.57 million homes for sale in July 2008.

Inventory is not seasonally adjusted and there is a clear seasonal pattern - inventory should increase further in the spring. This is an increase from April 2009, and this breaks a streak of 20 consecutive months of year-over-year declines in inventory (I'll have more on inventory).

The last graph shows the 'months of supply' metric.

Months of supply increased to 8.4 months in April. A normal market has under 6 months of supply, so this is high - and probably excludes some substantial shadow inventory. And the months of supply will probably increase sharply this summer.

I'll have more later ... the increase in inventory is the big story.