Median existing home price tops $400,000 for first time in May,2022: Massachusetts HomeBuyers HomeOwenership

 The median existing home sales price topped four hundred thousand dollars for the first time in May as existing home sales fell for the fourth month in a row, the National Association of REALTORS® said. At the same time, total housing inventory rose 12.6 percent on a month over month basis to one million one hundred and sixty thousand units. Total existing home sales, which are completed transactions, including single family homes, town homes, condominiums and co-ops, slid 3.4 percent from April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.41 million in May. Year over year, sales volume was down 8.6 percent from 5.92 million transactions in May 2021.

 The median existing-home price for all housing types in May was four hundred and seven thousand six hundred dollars, up 14.8 percent from a year before, as median prices rose in each region. “Home sales have essentially returned to the levels seen in 2019 prior to the pandemic after two years of gangbuster performance,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a press release. “Also, the market movements of single family and condominium sales are nearly equal, possibly implying that the preference towards suburban living over city life that had been present over the past two years is fading with a return to pre-pandemic conditions.”

 The average commitment rate for a thirty year, conventional, fixed rate mortgage was 5.23 percent in May, up from 4.98 percent in April, according to Freddie Mac. The average commitment rate across all of 2021 was 2.96 percent. April’s unsold inventory represented a 2.6 month supply at the current sales pace, up from 2.2 months in the prior month and down from 2.5 months last year. Properties typically remained on the market for 16 days in May, down from seventeen  days in both April and May 2021. Eighty eight percent of homes sold in May were on the market for less than a month.

 “Further sales declines should be expected in the upcoming months given housing affordability challenges from the sharp rise in mortgage rates this year,” Yun added. “Nonetheless, homes priced appropriately are selling quickly, and inventory levels still need to rise substantially almost doubling  to cool home-price appreciation and provide more options for homebuyers.” By property type, single family home sales in May slid to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.8 million, down 3.6 percent from 4.98 million in the previous month and down 7.7 percent from a year earlier. The median existing single family home price was four hundred fourteen thousand and two hundred dollars, up 14.6 percent on a year over year basis.

 Existing condominium and co op sales came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of six hundred and ten thousand units in May, down 1.6 percent from April and 15.3 percent compared to May 2021. The median existing condo price rose 14.8 percent year over year to three hundred fifty five thousand and seven hundred dollars. In May, first time buyers were responsible for twenty seven percent of sales, down from twenty eight percent in April and down from thirty one percent in May 2021, while individual investors or second home buyers, who make up many cash sales, purchased sixteen percent of homes, down from seventeen percent in April and seventeen percent in May 2021.    

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