A “sales” school in front of a house in Washington, DC, USA, on Thursday, May 8, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Bloomberg | Getty pictures
The spring real estate market continues to fight in the middle of high interest rates and low consumer confidence.
According to the National Association of Realors, sales of houses previously owned in April decreased in April from March from March from March of 4 million units. This is the slowest April pace since 2009.
Sales decreased by 2% compared to April last year. Residential economists expected a profit of 2.7%.
This count is based on closings, which means that contracts that were probably signed in February and March before the mortgage interest rates rose higher in April.
“In the past three years, sales of homes have been in 75% of normal or pre-Pandemic activities, even with seven million jobs that were added to the economy,” said Lawrence Yun, the chief economist of Nar, in an release. “The demand for pent -up apartments continues to grow, although they are not realized. A significant decline in mortgage interest will help to release this demand.”
The inventory rose by 9% from month to month and was almost 21% higher than in April of the previous year. At the end of April, 1.45 million houses were for sale, which is an offer of 4.4 months in the current sales pace. This is the highest level in five years, but still below the six -month offer, which is considered a balanced market. A year ago there was a 3.5-month supply.
More offer begins to cool the prices. The average price of an existing house sold in April was $ 414,000, an increase of only 1.8% compared to the previous year. This is the highest April price per record, but the slowest appreciation since July 2023. The annual price profits were much higher last year. The prices fell in both southern and western regions.
“We are still on the mild sales market on the macro level,” said Yun. “But with the highest stock for almost five years, consumers have been in a better situation to negotiate better offers.”
Houses sat on the market on average 29 days, faster than March, but longer than in April last year. First buyers made up 34% of sales, almost the same as in the previous year.
Cancellation rates or how many people cancel their contracts too, also rise and start by 7% of sales in April. This has increased from an average of 3% to 4%.
The activity is still stronger at the upper end of the market. The turnover of houses at a price of more than 1 million US dollars rose by almost 6%compared to the previous year. The prices between 100,000 and 250,000 US dollars went just more than 4%. However, Yun found that the winnings at the top of the top shrink.
“I think that is partly due to the appearance of the stock market,” he said.