U.S. housing – U.S. home sales stayed flat in April as prices hit an April record, while inventory shortages continue to pressure buyers.

The U.S. housing market is showing signs of stress that are starting to feel less temporary and more structural, with April data pointing to a pattern of sluggish sales alongside steadily rising home prices.

Sales of previously occupied homes were essentially flat in April. a subdued result during the period typically considered the busiest stretch of the year.. The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales edged up 0.2% from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.02 million units.. Compared with April a year earlier, sales were unchanged.

Economists had expected a stronger pace.. The latest figure came in below the roughly 4.12 million annual unit target projected by economists tracked through FactSet.. The broader picture has been consistent for more than a year: sales have lingered near a 4-million annual pace since 2023. far beneath the historic norm often cited closer to 5.2 million.

While demand has struggled to lift overall sales volumes. home prices continued to move upward. though at a slower pace than before.. The U.S.. median sales price rose 0.9% year over year in April to $417. 700. which the Realtors group described as an all-time high for any April in its dataset going back to 1999.. Prices have increased on an annual basis for 34 months in a row.

The weakness in sales is not new.. The report said the U.S.. housing market has been in a slump since 2022, after mortgage rates moved up from pandemic-era lows.. It noted that sales of previously occupied homes were essentially flat last year and remained stuck at a 30-year low. with momentum staying soft through the first months of this year as sales declined year over year through January. February. and March.

In this context, the spring homebuying season has not delivered a clear rebound.. Lawrence Yun. the Realtors’ chief economist. said that so far during the season through April. there is no expectation of an increase compared with one year ago.. His remarks underscore the sense that the market’s sluggishness is persisting beyond what seasonal demand might normally offset.

A major theme behind the market’s stalled sales is supply.. The inventory squeeze limits the number of homes available for would-be buyers. and that friction can keep transactions from catching up even when parts of the mortgage-rate environment improve.. Homes that sold in April were likely first under contract in February and March. when the average rate on a 30-year mortgage ranged from 5.98% to 6.38%. according to Freddie Mac. before settling at 6.37% for the week referenced in the report.

Mortgage rates have not followed a clean downward trend.. The report explained that while the average rate remains below where it was a year ago. it has been fluctuating since the war with Iran began.. Surging energy prices have fed concern about higher inflation. which in turn can make lenders more cautious and borrowers less willing to commit.

Even so. there is a partial counterpoint for buyers who can afford to purchase now: more properties are available than they were in the tightest stretches earlier in the cycle.. The report said that people who are financially able to buy are benefiting from more homes on the market. even while overall inventory still remains far below historical norms.

NAR reported that there were 1.47 million unsold homes at the end of April. That was up 5.8% from March and up 1.4% from April of the previous year. The report also said this is the most homes on the market for April going back to 2019, when month-end inventory stood at 1.83 million.

However, even improved month-to-month supply remains tight in historical terms.. The same data point is still short of the roughly 2 million homes for sale that was typical before the COVID-19 pandemic.. Translating the current pace into market balance. the report said April’s month-end inventory corresponds to about a 4.4-month supply at the present sales rate.

That supply level remains below what is generally considered balanced between buyers and sellers.. Traditionally. a 5- to 6-month supply is often viewed as a middle ground where neither side has a dominant advantage. and the gap helps explain why the market can feel “stuck” even when transaction activity inches forward.

The report emphasized that inventory would need to grow meaningfully to shift conditions.. Yun said the market really needs about 30% growth in inventory, but that such an expansion is not showing up.. In practical terms. that means buyers may continue to face limited choices. while sellers may still find leverage enough to support price levels.

Taken together, the April results show a market where demand is not collapsing, but it is not catching up either.. Sales hovering close to a 4-million annual pace. combined with continued price increases and a persistent shortage of homes. suggests the housing market’s current imbalance is being reinforced by constraints on supply as well as the lingering aftereffects of higher mortgage rates.

For households weighing their timing. the implications are clear: affordability pressures are not easing quickly enough to unlock a broad surge in sales. even as the mortgage-rate range seen earlier in the spring provided brief pockets of improvement.. Unless inventory expands toward more normal levels. the report’s data suggests that the market may keep producing mixed signals—higher prices alongside steadier. unexciting transaction volumes—rather than a decisive reset.

U.S. housing market existing home sales mortgage rates home prices housing inventory Realtors data affordability