Home Sales Tumble While Median Prices Set A New Record

Home sales are slipping while median sales prices are still breaking records, according to a pair of data reports published this morning.

Sales of new single-family houses during April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 634,000, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This represents a 4.7% decline from the revised March rate of 665,000 and it is also 7.7% below the April 2023 estimate of 687,000.

The median sales price of new houses sold in April was $433,500 while the average sales price was $505,700. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of April was 480,000, which represents a supply of 9.1 months at the current sales rate.

A more recent home price data report was published by Redfin (NASDAQ: RDFN), which found the median home sale price hit a record $387,600 during the four weeks ending May 19, up 4% from one year earlier. Redfin attributed the price spike for pushing down year-over-year.

High housing costs pushed pending home sales down by 4.2% year-over-year. And although new listings are up about 8% from one year earlier, Redfin stated inventory is lower than the typical spring levels.