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Post by bot on Jun 27, 2014 16:50:56 GMT -5
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Rising for a second month, sales of existing homes grew 4.9% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday. A strengthening labor market, expanding inventories and recent drops in mortgage rates are supporting sales, said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a May sales rate of 4.75 million, compared with an originally reported April rate of 4.65 million. On Monday NAR revised April's rate to 4.66 million. The median sales price of used homes hit $213,400 in May, up 5.1% from the year-earlier period. May's inventory was 2.28 million existing homes for sale, a 5.6-month supply at the current sales pace. Despite May's increase, the pace of sales was down 5% from a year earlier, hit by affordability that had trended down since the summer of 2013, among other factors. But recent economic improvements signal that sales rates may continue to pick up, Yun said.
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