WASHINGTON: Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes ticked up last month to the highest level in 3½ years, helped by a jump in the number of properties available.
But in Summit County, the sales are lagging.
The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that sales nationwide rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million, up from 4.94 million in March.
Home sales have risen 9.7 percent in the past 12 months, evidence that the housing market is still improving. But sales have been roughly flat since November. The supply of available homes remains tight and many potential buyers aren’t able to get loans.
In Summit County, home sales in April fell 3.1 percent to 462, down from 477 in April 2012, according to the Akron Area Board of Realtors.
The national figure is an annualized rate, while the Akron Area Board of Realtors home sales figures are transactions for a given month.
The supply of homes on the market in Summit continues to lag the year-ago figure, mirroring the national trend. April saw a 20 percent decline in the supply, with 3,076 homes on the market in Summit, compared to 3,847 in April 2012.
The median sale price in Summit in April was $102,500, down 10.9 percent from $115,000 in April 2012, but up from the April 2011 median price of $89,000.
In a 15-county Northeast Ohio area, including Summit, Stark, Portage, Medina and Cuyahoga counties, sales of single-family homes increased 15.9 percent to 2,949, compared with the 2,545 sold in April 2012, according to the Northern Ohio Regional Multiple Listing Service.
Statewide, sales in April reached 10,991; that was a 20.5 percent increase from the 9,121 sales posted during the month in 2012, and the best mark since 2007.
The average sale price statewide of $134,388 was a 3.5 percent increase from the $129,858 average in April 2012.
The Ohio association does not provide a median price.
Nationwide, the number of homes for sale rose 12 percent in April from March to 2.16 million. But inventory is still almost 14 percent lower than a year earlier.
The increase in inventories partly reflects the beginning of the spring selling season. The supply of homes would be exhausted in 5.2 months at the current sales pace. That’s below the typical level of about six months.
More Americans are interested in purchasing homes: buyer traffic has risen 31 percent in the past year, the Realtors’ group said.
Rising demand and tight supply have pushed up prices. The median price of a home for sale jumped 11 percent last month from April 2012 to $192,800. That’s the highest in nearly five years. The median is the figure halfway between the highest and lowest number.
Higher prices could encourage more people to sell homes, fueling further sales gains.
“Sellers want to sell in a rising market,” said Jonathan Basile, an economist at Credit Suisse. “When more sellers come out and sell, they’ll also have to buy.”
The increase in prices partly reflects more sales of higher-priced homes. Sales of lower-priced homes are rising more slowly.
And sales of cheap foreclosed properties are falling. The proportion of distressed sales has fallen sharply in the past year, to 18 percent from 28 percent in April 2012. Distressed sales include foreclosed homes and homes in which the size of the mortgage exceeds the home’s value.
But first-time buyers made up only 29 percent of sales last month, the lowest proportion in more than two years.
That’s well below the 40 percent typical in a healthy market and down from 35 percent a year ago. Many homes are being snapped up soon after being put on the market. Homes were on sale for a median 46 days in April, down from 62 in March. Homes are selling at a 45 percent faster pace than a year earlier.