National Market Update: June 2016

According to multiple reports, new home sales all over the U.S. declined last month after seeing sharp gains back in April. Numbers released from the Commerce Department show new home sales dropped 6% in May, with the Northeast and West regions seeing the strongest declines.

At the same time, existing home sales, which include single-family homes, townhouses, condos, and co-ops, saw a slight 1.8% increase in transactions last month, which continues a trend we’ve been seeing all year long. Overall, existing home sales are up 4.5% from May 2015, which is the highest annual pace the national market has enjoyed since February 2007.

Even with the month-to-month decline in new home sales from April to May, sales are still up 6.4% year-over-year, which can largely be attributed to job growth and low mortgage rates that continue to help elevate market conditions.

The median sales price in May is also up 1% from 2015 to $290,400, while the median sales price for existing homes only was $239,700 last month, which is actually up nearly 5% from 2015. As noted by the National Association of Realtors®, May was the 51st consecutive month of year-over-year gains in sales prices.