April Existing Home Sales: It Was Always Going to be Bad

• April existing home sales fell 17.8% from March to 4.33 million (SAAR), according to the National Association of Realtors, the largest one-month decline since 2010. Sales were down 17.2% from April 2019.
• The median existing-home price for all housing types in April was $286,800, up 7.4% from April 2019 ($267,000).
• Sales of single-family homes were down 15.5% year-over-year, while sales of units in multifamily buildings were down 31.6%.

It was always going to be bad. While sales of existing homes took a significant step back in March, April's report is the first one to truly capture the change in buyer activity since the coronavirus broke out on U.S. soil. The combination of fear, economic uncertainty and mandatory stay-at-home orders brought huge portions of the economy to a crashing halt and prevented many home shoppers and sellers from participating in the market. The question now is what happens from here. April’s report was bad, but it could have been worse — price growth remains strong and inventory is very low, keeping competition high for those buyers still on the market. May's report certainly won’t be a blockbuster, but it’s clear that as the country begins to slowly reopen, buyer demand for homes remains sturdy and many are eager to take advantage of record low interest rates to get in on the action. It appears the worst may now be behind us and that home sales are at least at the start of the road to recovery.

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