U.S. Home Sales Cool Amid Higher Rates, Record Prices

The figures are the latest sign that the frenzied market that took off in mid-2020 is losing much of its steam. Record-low mortgage-interest rates and home buyers’ desire for more space during the Covid-19 pandemic unleashed a sales boom that pushed prices to new highs. In some markets, hot listings drew hundreds of people who waited in lines that curled around the block.

The housing market still looks relatively hot by historic standards, and home-price growth remains robust. Prices rose 14.8% in April from a year earlier to $391,200, a record high in data going back to 1999, NAR said.

But scarce inventory and mortgage rates topping 5% have combined with those steep prices to yank sales activity back to where it was before the boom. April’s seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.61 million was the lowest rate since June 2020.

“Higher home prices and sharply higher mortgage rates have reduced buyer activity,” said

Lawrence Yun,

NAR’s chief economist. “We are moving back to pre-pandemic sales activity.”

Some recent data suggest the slowdown is extending into May. Mortgage applications to purchase homes in the week ended May 13 slid 12% from the prior week and 15% from a year earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.

That dip reflects the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage standing at 5.25% in the week ended Thursday, up from 3% a year earlier, according to housing-finance agency

Freddie Mac.

Not all the recent news has been bad for buyers. Active home listings grew 5% over the prior year during the week ended May 14, their biggest jump since 2019, according to Realtor.com. Mr. Yun said he expects inventory to continue to rise in the coming months.

For now, consumers say they are feeling more pessimistic about the housing market than they have in years. Only 19% of consumers surveyed by

Fannie Mae

in April said it was a good time to buy a home, down from 47% a year earlier and a record low in data going back to mid-2010.

“We are seeing some buyers bail altogether,” said Nicole Rueth, a branch manager at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. who is based in the Denver area.

Lauren and Robert Fritz said they started shopping to buy their first home in the Philadelphia suburbs earlier this year and lost out on multiple offers to buyers who offered to pay more or were willing to skip the home inspection. They said they have decided to focus on paying off their debts and saving more money.

“The prices are getting crazier and crazier as the weeks go by, and obviously the rates are increasing,” Mrs. Fritz said. “If something comes along that seems to be within our range, we’ll absolutely go look at it, but I’m just really over it.”

With the number of homes for sale unusually low for this time of year, many homes are still receiving multiple offers and selling quickly.

There were 1.03 million homes for sale at the end of April, up 10.8% from March and down 10.4% from April 2021, NAR said. At the current sales pace, there was a 2.2-month supply of homes on the market at the end of April.

The typical home sold in April was on the market for 17 days, unchanged from the prior month, NAR said.

“I’m sure there are buyers who just got priced out,” said Allison Timothy, a real-estate agent in Draper, Utah. But “as long as I’ve still got multiple buyers bidding on these properties, would I notice if two dropped out? Probably not.”

The spring is often the busiest season for home sales, with 40% of typical existing-home purchases occurring between March and June, according to NAR. Mr. Yun said he expects inventory to continue to rise in the coming months, which could make the market less competitive for buyers.

Rising prices have been especially hard on first-time buyers. The share of first-time buyers in the market fell to 28% in April from 31% a year earlier. About 26% of April existing-home sales were purchased in cash, up from 25% in the same month a year ago, NAR said.

Existing-home sales fell the most month over month in the West, down 5.8%, and in the South, down 4.6%. Sales rose from a month earlier in the Midwest and Northeast.

Melissa Wiel-Nilson and Michael Growette sold their home in downtown Charleston, S.C., last year and rented in the suburbs while they looked for a new house. After losing out on multiple offers, they worried about being priced out of the market and decided to expand their geographic search area, Ms. Wiel-Nilson said.

“With the rates going up and…home prices going up, it was just a double whammy basically,” Ms. Wiel-Nilson said.

The couple, who have a 1-year-old daughter, bought a newly built house in Summerville, S.C., in April. “I’m so glad that we’re in a bigger place now for her to actually move around a bit more,” Ms. Wiel-Nilson said.

Building activity has increased due to the strong demand, but builders have been slowed by supply-chain issues and labor shortages. A measure of U.S. home-builder confidence fell in May to the lowest level since June 2020, the National Association of Home Builders said this week.

Housing starts, a measure of U.S. home building, fell 0.2% in April from March, the Commerce Department said this week. Residential permits, which can be a bellwether for future home construction, fell 3.2%.

News Corp,

owner of the Journal, also operates Realtor.com under license from NAR.

Write to Nicole Friedman at [email protected]