U.S. home sales fell for a second straight month in April amid weakness in the l...
WASHINGTON - U.S. home sales fell for a second straight month in April amid weakness in the lower-priced segment of the market, which is suffering from an acute shortage of properties.
Existing home sales fell 0.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.19 million units last month. March’s sales pace was unrevised at 5.21 million units. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast existing home sales rising 2.7% to a rate of 5.35 million units in April. The NAR said last year’s revamp of the U.S. tax code, which reduced the amount of mortgage interest payments homeowners could deduct, was hurting sales of homes priced $1 million and above. There has been a marked drop in sales in high tax states such as New Jersey and Connecticut.
The PHLX housing index was trading higher, tracking a broadly firmer U.S. stock market. The dollar rose against a basket of currencies. Prices of U.S. Treasuries fell.Housing supply remains tight, especially at the lower end of the market because of land and labor shortages. The government reported last week that permits to build single-family homes fell for a fifth straight month in April, touching their lowest level since November 2016.
There were 1.83 million previously owned homes on the market in April, up from 1.67 million in March and 1.8 million a year ago. At April’s sales pace, it would take 4.2 months to exhaust the current inventory, up from 3.8 months in March.
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