U.S. Existing Home Sales (April 2025)

U.S. existing home sales pull back for second consecutive month in April

• Existing home sales fell 0.5% month-on-month (m/m) to 4.0 million units (annualized) in April, building on the 5.9% decline in March. On a year-over-year basis, sales were down 2.0%. 
• Sales in the single-family segment fell 0.3% m/m, while sales in the smaller condo/co-op segment fell 2.6% m/m.
• Activity was mixed on a regional basis. Existing home sales fell 3.9% in the West, building on a 9.4% decline in the month prior, and pulled back by 2% in the Northeast. On the other hand, activity improved by 2.1% in the Midwest and remained unchanged in the South.  
• Total housing inventory at the end of April was 1.45 million units, up 9.0% from March and 20.8% from one year ago (1.2 million). Measured at the current sales rate and seasonally adjusting, unsold inventory ticked up to 4.3 months' supply – from 4.2 months in March, and 3.5 months in April 2024. 
• House price growth decelerated in April, with year-on-year gains easing to 1.8% from 2.6% in the month prior. On a seasonally adjusted basis, median home prices fell 0.4% in April, marking the fourth pullback on a month-to-month basis (seasonal adjustment performed by TD Economics).

Key Implications

• The U.S. housing market remains on weak footing, with sales stuck near their post Global Financial Crisis lows for some time now. While a sharp rebound in 'pending' home sales in March, coming alongside some pullback in mortgage rates, had indicated that existing home sales would improve in April, that improvement did not materialize. Elevated uncertainty from ongoing trade tensions appears to have contributed to the hesitancy of buyers to make good on the purchase commitments. There were other signs of softness elsewhere in the report, with inventories continuing to trend higher and price growth also slowing. 
• Mortgage rates have shot back above 7% in recent days – a move that will pose a hurdle to sales activity over the near-term. With mortgage rates at these levels, a sustained recovery in housing is likely to remain elusive for the time being. 

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