The National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the United States Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) both recently released their monthly findings for April 2021’s market performance, and these reports show declining sales compared to March. Existing-home sales, which include single family, townhomes, and condos, dropped by 2.7% compared to the previous month, and marks three straight months of declines. New-home construction meanwhile saw a larger drop, decreasing by 5.9% compared to March of 2021. Keep reading for additional stats and figures from both reports!
Existing-Home Sales Drop by 2.7%
Existing-home sales for the month of April 2021 were down by 2.7% compared to sales in March of 2021, according to a new report by the National Association of Realtors. Looking at absolute numbers, that’s a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.85 million sales in April. Following a drop of 6.6% in February and 3.7% in March, this 2.7% drop marks the third consecutive month of declining sales in 2021.
Despite this slowdown from a month-to-month perspective, April’s sales still far outpaced the sales of the previous year (April 2020) by 33.9%.
Although sales have been gradually decreasing over the past three months, prices only continue to increase across the country. The median existing-home sales price for April 2021 was $341,600, an increase of 19.1% (from $286,800) compared to the previous year. This new average median price again marked a record high and added to the 110 month streak of month-to-month price appreciations.
Inventory also managed to increase in April, showing a 10.5% gain compared to the previous month. This increase leaves unsold inventory currently sitting at a 2.4 month supply, up slightly from the lows of January’s approximate 2 month supply.
New-Home Sales Dip By 5.9%
For the month of April 2021, new-home sales saw a drop of 5.9%, a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 863,000 sales. That 5.9% equals a difference of 54,000 transactions from month to month.
One contributing factor for this slow down in new-home sales could be rapidly appreciating prices. In the month of April, the median sales price for a new home was $373,400 (a 20.1% increase from April 2020), while the average price was $435,400. That makes for a difference of $30,800 between the median prices of existing and new-homes. Some are attributing these rising prices to the cost of building materials, however as interest rates remain near 3% affordability remains consistent from the previous month.
Bottom Line
As the market continues to face sustained low levels of inventory, high demand, and low interest rates, clients are required to quickly adjust their expectations to compensate. Although sales rates are slipping from month to month, demand continues to exceed levels seen from the same time last year. Share this data with your clients now to aid them in making their decision to transact.
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