DSNews delivers stories, ideas, links, companies, people, events, and videos impacting the mortgage default servicing industry.
Issue link: http://digital.dsnews.com/i/1536040
MortgagePoint » Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 68 June 2025 J O U R N A L "Home sales have been at 75% of normal or pre-pandemic activity for the past three years, even with seven million jobs added to the economy," said Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist at NAR. "Pent-up housing demand continues to grow, though not realized. Any mean- ingful decline in mortgage rates will help release this demand." U.S. Highlights — Existing-Home Sales • Completed transactions involving single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and cooperatives make up the total existing-home sales, which decreased by 0.5% from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.00 million in April. Sales fell 2.0% YoY (from 4.08 million in April 2024). • At the end of April, there were 1.45 million units in total housing inven- tory, increasing 9% from March and 20.8% from 1.2 million units a year earlier. The amount of unsold inven- tory has increased from 4.0 months in March and 3.5 months in April 2024 to 4.4 months at the current sales pace. • All property types combined saw a median existing-home price of $414,000 in April, up 1.8% from $46,600 a year earlier. While the South and West saw price declines, the Northeast and Midwest saw price hikes. "At the macro level, we are still in a mild seller's market," Yun said. "But with the highest inventory levels in nearly five years, consumers are in a better situation to negotiate for better deals." Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com, offered her expert insight on NAR's Existing Home Sales Report. "Existing home sales registered a 4.00 million annual sales pace in April 2025, trailing 0.5% behind sales last month and 2.0% less than one year ago," Hale said. "Pending home sales revived in March, but remained lower than one year ago, a trend that continued in the April Realtor.com pending data. Home price growth continued, but moderated further, rising just 1.8% from a year ago. The typi- cal asking price has remained roughly flat as the market sees a growing number of homes for sale. Potential sellers who over- reach on price may have to adjust lower in order to attract a buyer in a market where months supply rose to 4.4 months range signaling more balance, in line with our forecast predictions for 2025." She added: "It's also worth noting that regional variation is more pro- nounced in today's housing market. Home prices rose in the Northeast (+6.3%) and Midwest (+3.6%) even as they declined mildly in the South (-0.1%) and West (-0.2%). Research from Realtor.com has shown that the housing supply short- age is most acute in the Northeast and Midwest. These April home sales likely went under contract in March and early April, when mortgage rates held in a very narrow range between 6.6% and 6.7%. Even before the big trade announcement on April 2, consumers had reported concerns about the outlook for personal financial situations and job security, which may have undermined their con- fidence in making a large purchase, such as a home. In addition, fluctuating stock prices in the wake of April 2 may have