Existing Home Sales April
Summary: Headline reads... April existing home sales decline by less than expected 1% vs 1.6%.
Under the sheets... the 2nd largest price drop and the largest inventory on record.
Existing Home Sales Apr -1% at 4.89M vs prior 4.94M Full Report
Inside the number: Yoy Sales -17.5%; Median price -8% $202.3K vs $219K, the 2nd largest drop on record.
Inventory +12% 4.55M vs 4.12M, up from 10 months supply to 11.2, the highest on record; Yoy +31.8%
SFR sales-0.5% to 4.34M; Yoy -16.1%; median price -8.5%; inventory +11.5% 10.7 months; Yoy +28.9%
William Cheney, chief economist at John Hancock Financial Services:
"We had an unrealistic run-up of prices and the faster they come back down to the real world the better.
The faster prices come down, the quicker we can get back to an equilibrium where we actually have transactions."
Christopher Low, chief economist at FTN Financial:
"There is no indication that things are improving. Inventories will stay out of balance at least until the end of 2009 and prices will keep falling."
Under the sheets... the 2nd largest price drop and the largest inventory on record.
Existing Home Sales Apr -1% at 4.89M vs prior 4.94M Full Report
Inside the number: Yoy Sales -17.5%; Median price -8% $202.3K vs $219K, the 2nd largest drop on record.
Inventory +12% 4.55M vs 4.12M, up from 10 months supply to 11.2, the highest on record; Yoy +31.8%
SFR sales-0.5% to 4.34M; Yoy -16.1%; median price -8.5%; inventory +11.5% 10.7 months; Yoy +28.9%
William Cheney, chief economist at John Hancock Financial Services:
"We had an unrealistic run-up of prices and the faster they come back down to the real world the better.
The faster prices come down, the quicker we can get back to an equilibrium where we actually have transactions."
Christopher Low, chief economist at FTN Financial:
"There is no indication that things are improving. Inventories will stay out of balance at least until the end of 2009 and prices will keep falling."
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