Residential properties see biggest year-over-year sales in a long time

IRVINE, Calif.—RealtyTrac released its April 2014 Residential & Foreclosures Sales Report, which shows that U.S. residential properties sold at an estimated annual pace of 5,213,793 in April. This pace indicates a decrease of less than 1 percent from March, but an increase of 4 percent from April 2013. The median sales price of U.S. residential properties saw the biggest year-over-year increase since U.S. median prices bottomed out in March 2012. The median sales price for April, including both distressed and non-distressed sales, was $172,000, an increase of 4 percent from the previous month and an increase of 11 percent from April 2013.

“April home sales numbers are exhibiting the continued effects of low supply and still-strong demand that exist in many markets across the country,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “U.S. median home prices have now increased 21 percent since hitting bottom in March 2012. There are a surprising number of markets, however, where median home prices have surpassed their previous peaks since the Great Recession ended in June 2009.”

Other highlights from the April Residential & Foreclosure Sales Report include:

• Since the recession ended in June 2009, median prices of residential property have surpassed pre-recession and recession levels in 53 counties, representing 19 percent of the 274 counties with a population of 200,000 or more where sufficient home price data is available.
• Annualized sales volume in April decreased from a year ago in 13 states and the District of Columbia, along with 28 of the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas.
• States with decreasing sales volume from a year ago include California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Maryland, and Michigan. Major metro areas with decreasing sales volume from a year ago include Fresno, Calif., Boston, Orlando, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix.
• April marked the 25^th consecutive month where U.S. median prices increased on an annual basis. Nationwide median home prices increased 11 percent from a year ago, making April the biggest year-over-year increase since residential property prices bottomed out in March 2012.
• Short sales and distressed sales accounted for 15.6 percent of all sales in April, down from 16.5 percent of sales in March and down from 17.2 percent in April 2013.

More information on the April Residential & Foreclosure Sales Report and RealtyTrac can be found here.