New Home Sales Jumped in May
By Yelena Maleyev, Associate Economist, Grant Thornton
New home sales, which record a sale at the contract signing, came in at an annualized rate of 676,000 in May. That’s an increase of 16.6% from April and 12.7% from May 2019. April sales were revised down by 43,000, meaning sales fell for three months in a row, with buyers pulling back before the lockdowns began. Inventory fell below six months’ supply, the amount needed for the market to clear.
Existing home sales fell almost 10% in May from April, and almost 27% from a year ago. That is the largest annual drop since February 2008 but reflects limited activity during the lockdown period.
While buyers pulled back from the existing home market, so did sellers. Inventory remains at a tight level of just under five months’ supply. More than half of the existing homes were on the market for less than a month in May. Pending home sales, an indicator of signed contracts, fell nearly 22% in April from March, another double-digit drop.
Mortgage applications picked up in late May and early June, suggesting a jump in existing sales in July and August; there is usually a two month lag between applying and closing on an existing home.
Overall, inventories are expected to remain tight. Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index for May shows that only 32% of homeowners believe this is a good time to sell a home, while 52% believe it is a good time to buy. Prices favor sellers as they continue to rise on supply constraints. The West and Northeast list the highest prices, with the West median price coming in at $408,400 and the Northeast at $327,900. The national median price in May was $284,600.
Mortgage forbearances permitted by the CARES Act have been widely accepted; there are 4.6 million homeowners in forbearance in June. While this figure represents almost 9% of all mortgages, it is down from a peak in late May and has been falling for three straight weeks as concern about a prolonged shutdown abated.
Delinquent mortgages not backed by government agencies are also rising but represent a much smaller portion of the total. Those defaults are more likely to include self-employed owners who have been hit hard by the lockdowns.
Stimulus checks and extensions to unemployment insurance took a long time to hit the checking accounts of many households. Distressed sales remain at 3% of total sales, the same as last month.