Rising Home Sales, Prices Follow Seasonal Trend
For the 3rd month in a row, May home sales rose higher than sales in the previous month. While May sales were 11.5% higher than April, they remained below the same period last year by 9.9%. Only three of the 52 metro areas included in the May survey experienced lower sales than the previous month. Home prices continued to push higher in May, with a 7.7% increase over May 2013, which is a greater increase than the 5.8% rise seen in April. While both credit availability and inventory remain tight, May became the 6th consecutive month with fewer year-over-year inventory losses than the previous month. At the rate of home sales in May, the Months Supply of inventory dropped to 3.8, where a supply of 6.0 indicates a market balanced equally between buyers and sellers.
Transactions Year-Over-Year Change
The rebound in negative sales growth in January and February has been significant with increases in March (24.6%), April (10.9%) and now an 11.5% increase in May. However, sales were still 9.9% below one year ago. In March, all 52 surveyed metro areas reported monthly sales increases, and that pervasive trend continued in May with 49 of the 52 metros experiencing sales increases from the previous month. Only three metros saw monthly decreases: Miami fell 9.2%, San Diego dropped 7.4% and Phoenix was down 2.0%. The greatest increases were seen in metros from the northeast and Plains States.
Median Sales Price
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The RE/MAX National Housing Report surveyed MLS data in 52 metropolitan areas and found the Median Sales Price of all homes sold during May was $198,750. This price was 4.6% higher than the median price in April and 7.7% higher than the median price seen last year. On a year-over-year basis, the Median Sales Price has now risen for 28 consecutive months. Prices continue to rise as a result of limited inventory, but prices are not rising as rapidly as the 10.8% increase in May 2013. Among the 52 metro areas surveyed, 39 reported higher sales prices than
one year ago, two were unchanged and nine reported double-digit increases.
Days on Market
The average Days on Market for all homes sold in May was 66, eight days lower than the average seen in April and four days lower than the average in May last year. May becomes the 24th consecutive month with an average Days on Market below 90. The low Days on Market average continues to be the result of a low inventory of homes for sale. Days on Market is the number of days between when a home is first listed in an MLS and when a sales contract is signed.
Months Supply of Inventory
May was the
sixth consecutive month in which the rate of year-over-year inventory reductions was lower than the previous month, resulting in a level that was just 4.1% lower than one year ago. With a 1.2% monthly inventory increase, May is the second time in 12 months that there was an inventory increase from the previous month. At the rate of home sales in May, there was a 3.8 Months Supply of Inventory, down slightly from 3.9 in April.
VERY LOW MONTHS SUPPLY
Denver, CO 0.4
San Francisco, CA 1.2
Houston, TX 2.1
Boston, MA 2.1
Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX 2.1
Seattle, WA 2.1
San Diego, CA 2.3
Los Angeles, CA 2.5
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