Existing Home Sales Fall -9.7% in May

The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) is reporting that total existing-home sales, completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, slumped -9.7% from April to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 3.91 million in May. Overall, sales fell year-over-year, down -26.6% from a year ago (5.33 million in May 2019). In prepared remarks, Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist said, “Sales completed in May reflect contract signings in March and April – during the strictest times of the pandemic lockdown and hence the cyclical low point. Home sales will surely rise in the upcoming months with the economy reopening, and could even surpass one-year-ago figures in the second half of the year.”