The National Association of Realtors’ Existing Home Sales report for April found sales of previously owned homes relatively flat from the month before, with sales 0.5 percent lower than March. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, says home sales have been stuck just below normal levels. “Home sales have been at 75 percent of normal or pre-pandemic activity for the past three years, even with seven million jobs added to the economy,” Yun says. “Pent-up housing demand continues to grow, though not realized. Any meaningful decline in mortgage rates will help release this demand.” For now, stalled demand has helped the market recover from historically low levels of inventory. The total number of available homes for sale in April was up 9 percent. At the current sales pace, unsold inventory is now at a 4.4-month supply. A 6-month supply is considered a balanced market. (source)
