US Existing-Home Sales Decline in May as Home Prices Continue to Climb

On Friday, Redfin reported that US existing-home sales fell 1.7% month-over-month and 2.9% year-over-year on a seasonally adjusted basis.

According to Redfin, there have been just two months in the past decade with fewer homes sales: October 2023, when mortgage rates jumped to a 23-year high, and May 2020, when the onset of the pandemic brought the housing market to a halt and home sales to a record low.

The median home-sale price rose 5.1% year-over-year in May to a record $439,716. Nearly one in five (19.2%) homes for sale had a price cut, up from 13.2% a year earlier and just shy of the 21.7% record set in October 2022.

Sales may pick up later this year if mortgage rates slowly tick down as expected, Redfin said.

Commenting on the report, Redfin Senior Economist Elijah de la Campa said:

“Buyers today are facing many of the realities of a hot market even though few homes are changing hands. Sales are sluggish because high homebuying costs are making both house hunters and prospective sellers skittish. And with so few homes for sale, buyers in some markets are getting into bidding wars, which is helping push home prices to record highs.”