Ten-X is forecasting that April’s housing market will end with a slight decrease in existing homes sales and a small increase in median home prices.
The latest Ten-X Residential Real Estate Nowcast predicts April sales of existing homes will fall between 5.4 and 5.76 million, with a targeted number of 5.66 million, down 0.7 percent from March sales reported by the National Association of Realtors.
“We anticipated a strong spring selling season, driven primarily by pent-up demand and accelerating household formation numbers, and sales activity in March and April has been the best we’ve seen in a while,” Ten-X Executive Vice President Rick Sharga said in a release. “But some of this activity may also be due to buyers jumping into the market before interest rates rise any higher, so it's possible that we may see sales slow down later in the year.”
Ten-X predicts that median existing home prices in April will settle between $230,050 and $254,266 with a target price point of $242,158, up 2.4 percent from March and a 4.2 percent gain from last year.
“The U.S. housing market continues to advance, owing to a strong labor market and rising wages,” Ten-X Chief Economist Peter Muoio said. “Though low inventory levels remain a constraint and have spurred strong price gains, further eroding affordability, demand remains healthy and housing fundamentals continue to improve.”