The annual rate of home sales improved last month, with the biggest gain being made in the West. Average U.S. home prices were also higher.
The sale of existing U.S. homes during the month of April totaled 526,000. Sales surged from a downwardly revised 470,000 the prior month.
Pre-owned home sales also accelerated compared to the same month last year, when the number of existing home sales worked out to 495,000.
Home sales data were reported Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors.
From Jan. 1 through May 31 of this year, existing home sales totaled
2.033 million.
On a seasonally adjusted
basis, U.S. home sales came in at an annual rate of 5.530 million last month.
The rate was up from an upwardly revised 5.430 million in April and
a downwardly revised 5.290 million in May 2015.
A 5.4 percent increase from the previous report brought the seasonally adjusted annual rate to 1.180 million in the West. The rate rose 4.6 percent in the South to 2.280 million, while it was up 4.1 percent in the Northeast to 0.770 million.
The Midwest was the only region to suffer a decline from April, falling 6.5 percent to a 1.300 million annual rate.
The inventory of U.S. homes for sale was 2.150 million as of May 31, 2016, expanding from 2.120 million a month earlier but down down from 2.280 million a year earlier.
Based on the current pace of sales, last month’s inventory would take 4.7 months to clear out, the same as in April. But the inventory was tighter than the 5.2-month supply as of May 2015.
NAR reported that the average U.S. home price was $281,700 last month, 3.2 percent more than in the year-prior report.
The median price rose 4.7 percent to $239,700.
