Home Sales Up; Inventory, Too
May 27th, 2009
Single-family houses and condos saw higher sales last month. Though the gains were substantial over last month, they were still down nearly 10 percent from just a year ago.
Inventories, however, rose nearly 9 percent to roughly 4 million vacant homes. That's nearly a 5 percent increase in housing supply over the previous month.
While a rise in housing inventories in spring is typical, it appears the increase is not due to seasonal factors. Bank repossessions made up nearly half of sales across the nation last month.
The median price for existing homes now sits at around $170,000, marking a 15.5 percent year-over-year decline in price. The West is suffering the worst with median prices dropping to nearly 22 percent during the past few years.
