by Calculated Risk on 6/20/2013 10:00:00 AM
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Existing Home Sales in May: 5.18 million SAAR, 5.1 months of supply
The NAR reports: Existing-Home Sales Rise in May with Strong Price Increases
Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, rose 4.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.18 million in May from 4.97 million in April, and is 12.9 percent above the 4.59 million-unit pace in May 2012.
Total housing inventory at the end of May rose 3.3 percent to 2.22 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 5.1-month supply at the current sales pace, down from 5.2 months in April. Listed inventory is 10.1 percent below a year ago, when there was a 6.5-month supply.
![Existing Home Sales](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOpT6nlV9ZpkOjDvtEpg6weFNAVBNzV2mc5hJkaLUbOtcVEUA5LndazeAhyb2gsHvG7IuS4Kxf1X089Z9gcV5gvUeM5yDRWvzbrCQLbh85h8w6xkn8D1OQGSrkv8s8OfpYlYRwsA/s320/EHSMay2013.jpg)
This graph shows existing home sales, on a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) basis since 1993.
Sales in May 2013 (5.18 million SAAR) were 4.2% higher than last month, and were 12.9% above the May 2012 rate. This is the highest sales rate since November 2009 (housing tax credit).
The second graph shows nationwide inventory for existing homes.
![Existing Home Inventory](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicw9mMyNoVKkhxE-ASvjhiM-lxKbNyIiPuAeL6C3LrLvwL__ssS0ZhzobtD-Rc66QDiVUqMdBM2U41YCQ1DpKSyI981Yj0eF5j_YZoyY-XL4A2VyWt-y9hHrIpRIDNzB0vPFzsYA/s320/EHSInvMay2013.jpg)
The last graph shows the year-over-year (YoY) change in reported existing home inventory and months-of-supply. Since inventory is not seasonally adjusted, it really helps to look at the YoY change. Note: Months-of-supply is based on the seasonally adjusted sales and not seasonally adjusted inventory.
![Year-over-year Inventory](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCuJyJ5VTxOtoWBNG69zfqDKbyIeInmxHM_VZ-YG7Dvgo2fNQuWTiLw6EPhnG4FYLlB2Qkc9P_36nRFzwQTg0mR1OTNijmPCFa6mt9I7QsWnZum4B9_pFu9eEpESaVS_xEGdVSw/s320/EHSYoYInvMay2013.jpg)
Months of supply decreased to 5.1 months in May.
This was just above expectations of sales of 5.0 million. For existing home sales, the key number is inventory - and inventory is still down year-over-year, although the declines are slowing. This was another solid report. I'll have more later ...