Two new data reports pointed to an increase in U.S. single-family home sales and a decline in home prices.
The U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported sales of new single‐family houses during May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 763,000, which is 12.2% above the revised April rate of 680,000 and 20% above the May 2022 estimate of 636,000. The median sales price of the new houses sold last month was $416,300 and the average sales price was $487,300, while the seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of May was 428,000, a 6.7-month supply at the current sales rate.
Separately, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a -0.2% annual decrease in April, down from a gain of 0.7% in the previous month. This marked the first decline by the index since April 2012.
April’s 10-City Composite showed a decrease of -1.2%, down from the -0.7% decrease in March, while the 20-City Composite posted a -1.7% year-over-year loss, down from -1.1% in the previous month. In the 20-City Composite, 17 cities reported lower prices in the year ending April compared to the year ending in March – the three cities reporting increases were Boston, San Francisco and Cleveland with upticks of 0.1%, 0.1% and 0.9%, respectively.
Craig J. Lazzara, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices, stated the housing market “continued to strengthen in April 2023.”
“If I were trying to make a case that the decline in home prices that began in June 2022 had definitively ended in January 2023, April’s data would bolster my argument,” he added. “Whether we see further support for that view in coming months will depend on the how well the market navigates the challenges posed by current mortgage rates and the continuing possibility of economic weakness.”
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