by Calculated Risk on 6/20/2018 10:10:00 AM

From the NAR: Existing-Home Sales Backpedal, Decrease 0.4 Percent in May

Existing-home sales fell back for the second straight month in May, as only the Northeast region saw an uptick in activity, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, decreased 0.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.43 million in May from downwardly revised 5.45 million in April. With last month’s decline, sales are now 3.0 percent below a year ago and have fallen year-over-year for three straight months.
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Total housing inventory at the end of May climbed 2.8 percent to 1.85 million existing homes available for sale, but is still 6.1 percent lower than a year ago (1.97 million) and has fallen year-over-year for 36 consecutive months. Unsold inventory is at a 4.1-month supply at the current sales pace (4.2 months a year ago).
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Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows existing home sales, on a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) basis since 1993.

Sales in May (5.43 million SAAR) were 0.4% lower than last month, and were 3.0% below the May 2017 rate.

The second graph shows nationwide inventory for existing homes.

According to the NAR, inventory increased to 1.85 million in May from 1.80 million in April.   Headline inventory is not seasonally adjusted, and inventory usually decreases to the seasonal lows in December and January, and peaks in mid-to-late summer.

The last graph shows the year-over-year (YoY) change in reported existing home inventory and months-of-supply. Since inventory is not seasonally adjusted, it really helps to look at the YoY change. Note: Months-of-supply is based on the seasonally adjusted sales and not seasonally adjusted inventory.

Inventory decreased 6.1% year-over-year in May compared to May 2017.  

Months of supply was at 4.1 months in May.

Sales were below the consensus view. For existing home sales, a key number is inventory - and inventory is still low, but appears to be bottoming in some areas. I'll have more later ...