Tighter lending standards affect April existing-home sales

Total existing-home sales, including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops fell 2.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.99 million units in April from an upwardly revised level of 6.15 million in March, and are 10.7 percent lower than the 6.71 million-unit pace in April 2006. “We’ve been anticipating slower home sales because many subprime loan products are no longer available,” said NAR Senior Economist Lawrence Yun. “In addition, increased scrutiny by lenders is stopping risky mortgage origination, which is good for both consumers and the lending community.”The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $220,900 in April, down 0.8 percent from April 2006 when the median was $222,600. Total housing inventory rose 10.4 percent at the end of April to 4.20 million existing homes available for sale, which represents an 8.4 month supply at the current sales pace, up from a 7.4 month supply in March.