U.S. home sales rise in April

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes increased in April, hitting their highest level in nearly four years and signaling that the housing market continued its rebound last month.

Home sales increased 0.6% from the prior month and were up 9.7% from April 2012 to hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million units. It was the highest pace for home sales since November 2009 but nevertheless remained muted due to low inventory, the National Assn. of Realtors reported Wednesday.

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“The robust housing market recovery is occurring in spite of tight access to credit and limited inventory,” real estate group chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a news release. “Without these frictions, existing-home sales easily would be well above the 5-million unit pace.”

Sales have risen year-over-year for 22 consecutive months. Home prices have shown 14 consecutive months of annual increases.

The median home price for all types of U.S. properties increased 11% from April 2012 to hit $192,800. The last time there were 14 consecutive year-over-year increases was during the boom, from April 2005 to May 2006.

Housing inventory rose 11.9% in April to hit 2.16 million homes available for sale. That represented supply of about five months and a week at the current sales pace.

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