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Home Sales See Big Drop in April, While Prices Hit Record High
May 21, 2020
Home sales in April saw the largest month-over-month drop in nearly a decade. Sales of existing homes fell 17.8% from the month before, the largest monthly drop since July 2010. Annually, sales were down 17.2%, meaning that homes sold at the slowest rate since September 2011.
It is not just that no one is buying homes, but fewer people are selling too. The supply of homes for sale in April fell nearly 20% from a year prior, meaning that there were just 1.47 million homes on the market at the end of the month. This is the lowest inventory figure on record for the month of April, usually a robust month for sales. Concerns about the economy and unemployment meant not only that fewer owners put their homes on the market, but many sellers pulled their homes off the market.
This dearth of inventory has driven prices to a record high. The median home price jumped 7.4% annually to $286,800, the highest price on record.
