The Week Ahead: Another Decline for Existing Home Sales?

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) will release its latest numbers on the existing home sales on Wednesday.

Its prior reports found May’s existing-home sales took a hit, falling 9.7% in May.

May’s total sales overall year-over-year also dipped—falling 26.6% from May 2019’s 5.53 million.

According to the NAR, it was the Northeastern portion of the nation that was hit the hardest, experiencing the greatest decline in month-over-month sales numbers.

NAR’s Chief Economist Lawrence Yun commented on the disappointing numbers, while offering some hope for a future rebound: “Sales completed in May reflect contract signings in March and April—during the strictest times of the pandemic lockdown and hence the cyclical low point. Home sales will surely rise in the upcoming months with the economy reopening and could even surpass one-year-ago figures in the second half of the year.”

Yun then pointed to what needs to happen for this market niche to start to mend: “New home construction needs to robustly ramp up to meet rising housing demand. Otherwise, home prices will rise too fast and hinder first-time buyers, even at a time of record-low mortgage rates.”

The NAR revealed the median existing-home price in May was $284,600—up 2.3% from May 2019 and was the 99^th straight month for annual gains.

Also coming next week is a report on new home sales form the U.S. Census Bureau, a webinar from the American Mortgage Diversity Council, and the latest episode of DS5: Inside the Industry, featuring Courtney Thompson, SVP Default Mortgage, Flagstar Bank.

 

Here's what else is happening in The Week Ahead:

Census Bureau New Home Sales (Friday)  

AMDC Webinar (Wednesday)  

DS5: Inside the Industry (Monday)