May 13, 2015 – The
REAL Trends Housing Market Report for April 2015 shows that housing sales increased
13.2 percent from the same month a year ago. All four regions reported unit
sales had increased from a year ago with the Midwest leading the way with an
increase of 14.8 percent.
The annual rate of
new and existing home sales for April 2015 was 5.659 million units up from a rate of 4.999 million in April 2014.
Housing prices rose
an average of 3.5 percent from April 2014, continuing the moderate price
increases of the past twelve month period.
"April housing sales continued to show extraordinary
strong growth that started with the March results. The results were strong in
every region with only the Northeast reported less than double digit increases
over the prior year. With pending
contracts also reported to be very strong we expect the trend of increasing
housing unit sales to continue through the rest of the spring selling season",
said Steve Murray, editor of the REAL Trends Housing Market Report. "Reports
from industry CEO’s in late April and early May indicate that May business will
continue to be stronger than expected just a few months ago. The only cautionary
note is that inventory continues to decline and in a large number of markets it
is approaching critical levels. Future
month’s sales as we head into the summer may be negatively impacted by the lack
of inventory and the decline of affordability.”
Housing
unit sales for April 2015 increased 14.8 percent in the Midwest, the best performance
in all regions. Sales in the South region were up 14.1 percent, the West saw an
increase of 14.0 percent and the Northeast had an increase of 6.8 percent.
The
average price of homes sold in April 2015 in the South region increased by 5.0
percent, the best result in the nation. The West saw average prices increase 4.0
percent, average prices in the Midwest were up 3.1 percent, and the Northeast
saw average prices rise 1.4 percent.
"While the job market remains strong average household
incomes continue to show very sluggish growth. And while the private
market for mortgages is less stringent than it was inthe past, many of the
major lenders remain wary of adopting looser underwriting standards. So
while there has been a pick up in first time homebuyer activity, it is not
expected to return to normal historical levels of activity", Murray added.
REAL Trends Housing Market Report
April 2015 March 2015
Closed Sales AVG Price Closed Sales AVG Price
National
+13.2% +3.5% +15.9% +4.9%
Regional Report
Northeast
+6.8% +1.4% +9.3% +7.4%
South
+14.1% +5.0% +16.7% +4.6%
Midwest
+14.8% +3.1% +18.4% +9.8%
West
+14.0% +4.0%
+16.4% +3.6%
