Lower Home Prices Lure Home Buyers In May
Existing home sales rise 2.4% to 4.77 million, with fewer distressed sales
June 23 2009 - Falling prices boosted sales of pre-owned homes in May to the highest level since October, the National Association of Realtors estimated Tuesday.
Existing-home sales rose 2.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.77 million, the trade group said. Sales have risen in three of the past four months, and are down 3.6% in the past year.
The sales increase was less than the 4.85 million rate expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch.
The median sales price fell 16.8% in the past year to $173,000, the third largest year-over-year decline on record. The median sales price fell 30% in the West.
The first back-to-back sales increase in more than three years is welcome news, said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR. Higher sales should help stabilize prices, he said. A full-fledged economic recovery depends on healthy housing market, he said.
