sales of existing homes dropped 27 in april from march to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 585 million units according to the national association of realtors it was the third straight month of declines the group said sales were 339 higher than april 2020 but that comparison is an anomaly because the housing market and economy shut down at the start of the pandemic housing then rebounded strongly last summer sales were still 11 stronger than april 2019 i would say it is hot that is the one word description even with the sales decline said lawrence yun chief economist for the realtors for every listing there are 51 offers half of the homes are being sold above list price the supply of homes for sale at the end of april was down 20 there were 116 million homes for sale representing a 24month supply at the current sales pace high demand and rockbottom supply continued to push prices higher the median price of an existing home sold in april was 341600 an increase of 191 from april 2020 that is both the highest median price on record and the largest annual increase on record much of that large increase in the median price is due to the mix of homes that are selling there is far more activity on the higher end of the market where supply is more plentiful and very little activity on the low end where the shortage is most severe as an example sales of homes priced between 100000 and 250000 were unchanged from a year earlier sales of homes priced between 750000 and 1 million rose 146 from a year earlier and sales of homes over 1 million jumped 212 competition is also incredibly intense with homes selling in just 17 days the fastest the realtors have ever recorded the allcash share of sales rose to 25 from 13 one year ago investors made up 17 of all transactions firsttime buyers made up 31 of purchases a slight decline from a month earlier mortgage rates in february and march when these deals were signed rose quickly and dramatically the average rate on the 30year fixed started february around 280 and ended march around 342 according to mortgage news daily that took purchasing power away from buyers who were already contending with high prices sales of newly built homes which are measured by signed contracts not closings rose a strong 21 in march from february builders are benefitting from the shortage of existing homes for sale but prices for new homes are also rising sharply builders have not been increasing production enough to meet all the demand as they are hampered by rising costs for land and material and an increasingly difficult labor shortage the hope now is that with more vaccinations and people feeling better about social interaction more potential sellers will list their homes rising seller sentiment could mean some relief is ahead with perhaps even a greaterthannormal share of homeowners stepping into the market later this year said danielle hale chief economist for realtorcom while its not enough to end the shortage of homes for sale this wave of sellers will make a dent giving homebuyers more options to choose from