Existing Home Sales in April rose by 2.9% to a 4.68 million annual pace, following a revised 4.55 million pace reported in March, originally reported at 4.57.  Existing Home Sales were pegged at 4.85 million in April of 2008, showing a 3.5% decline over the year.  The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $170,200 in April, down from the $175,000 median in March, which is 15.4% below 2008.  Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast increased by 11.6% to an annual pace of 770,000 in April, with a median price of $237,400.  Sales in Midwest fell by 2.0% to 1.00 million with a median price of $138,800.  In the South, existing-home sales increased by 1.8% to an annual pace of 1.74 million with a median price of $148,000. Existing-home sales in the West also showed an improvement, by 3.5%, to an annual rate of 1.17 million with a median sales price of $222,600.

“Most of the sales are taking place in lower price ranges and activity is beginning to pick up in the midprice ranges, but high-end home sales remain sluggish,” said the Chief Economist of the NAR. “The Federal Reserve needs to help restore liquidity for the jumbo mortgage market by buying these loans under the TALF program.”

Upcoming Releases
Durable Orders (05/28 at 8:30 AM EST)
Initial Claims (05/28 at 8:30 AM EST)
New Home Sales (05/28 at 10:00 AM EST)
GDP-Preliminary (05/29 at 8:30 AM EST)

Zacks Investment Research

Last 5 posts by Zacks Market Commentaries

• CNP & FPL Ink Pipeline Deal - Analyst Blog - November 20th, 2009
• Buffett Borrows for Rail Acquisition - Analyst Blog - November 20th, 2009
• Stone Energy Outdoes Estimates - Analyst Blog - November 20th, 2009
• Smucker's Beats, Raises Guidance - Analyst Blog - November 20th, 2009
• GameStop Meets Expectations - Analyst Blog - November 20th, 2009