Existing-home sales up 1.1%, but prices rise on short supply

WASHINGTON — Americans shopping for a house are facing an intensifying set of pressures: Fewer and fewer homes are being listed for sale, while prices are climbing at a pace that most incomes can’t match.

The May sales report released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors shows a housing market unable to meet the demand from would-be buyers. Sales of previously owned homes edged up 1.1 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.62 million, a decent gain amid a relatively stable job market with a ro-

bust 4.3 percent unemployment rate.

But many possible buyers are finding their ambitions thwarted because there aren’t enough homes for sale.

Listings have plummeted 8.4 percent over the past 12 months to 1.96 million. On an annual basis, the number of homes for sale has declined for the past 24 months. Homes are staying on the market for a median of just 27 days, the briefest period since the Realtors began tracking the measure in 2011.

“It is a very fast-moving market, meaning that homes placed on the market are being picked up very fast by buyers,” Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors’ chief economist, said at a news briefing in Washington. “We have job creation, yet

home creation is not breaking out. There’s sizable pent-up demand.”

The sales growth in these circumstances is a “testament to just how strong the draw of homeownership is right now,” said Svenja Gudell, chief economist at the real estate firm Zillow.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that current buying conditions in many markets are terrible, with sellers in complete control and buyers forced to contend with cutthroat competition and intense pressure to make a deal,” Gudell said.

There’s little sign that any supply rebound is in the pipeline. Construction starts for new homes have declined for three-straight months and permits were at a one-year low in May, according to government data. The increase in sales for previously owned properties contrasts with an 11 percent drop in April for new-home sales, which account

for about a tenth of the market. Figures for May will be released Friday.

The lack of homes on the market has caused prices to rise at more than double the pace of wages. The median sales price has risen 5.8 percent from a year ago to $252,800.

Yun said the term “shortage” understated the problem in many metropolitan areas.

“We may even use the term ‘housing crisis’ in some markets,” he said.

The fastest-moving markets with rising prices and limited supplies include San Francisco and San Jose, Calif., Seattle and parts of Utah, Yun said.

Home sales rose in May in the Northeast, South and West but fell in the Midwest.