STILL ABOVE THE 5 MILLION MARK

Existing Home Sales Thursday May 19, 2011

Record High: 7.25 M (09/05) Percent Change from Record High: -30.3%
Existing home sales fell 0.8% in April to an annual rate of 5.05 million, below expectations for a modest gain to a rate of 5.20 million.
This follows a 3.5% gain in March. Existing home sales are 12.9% below their tax credit fueled level of a year ago and down 30.3%
from their peak level reached in September 2005. The breakdown of sales was roughly in line with recent months with distressed sales
accounting for 37% of all transactions, all-cash sales were 33% of the total while investors accounted for about 20% of sales last
month. Regionally, sales fell in all areas except for the Midwest where they gained 5.7%. The inventory of homes available for sale
climbed for the third straight month, rising by 9.9% in April to 3.870 million which represents a 9.2 month-supply at the current sales
pace. Even with recent gains though, inventories remain 3.9% below their year ago level. Home prices continue to fall as a result of the
large percentage of distressed sales. The median price for an existing home was down 5.0% over the past year to $163,700 as
average prices slipped 1.2% to $214,600. Significant demand in the housing market is unlikely to return until home prices stabilize.
Prices will stabilize when the majority of distressed properties have been cleared. Looking ahead, job growth and better credit
availability will help home sales to recover and show measurable improvement in the second half of this year.
MILLIONS OF UNITS
Forecast: 5.25 M Monthly Changes Average Changes for
Consensus*: 5.20 M Three Six Twelve Five Ten
Actual: 5.05 M Apr-11 Mar-11 Feb-11 Jan-11 Month Month Month 2010 2009 Year Year

Existing Home Sales (millions) 5.05 5.09 4.92 5.40 5.02 5.05 4.84 4.92 5.15 5.43 5.81
(percent change) -0.8 3.5 -8.9 3.4
(year-on-year percent change) -12.9 -6.4 -2.0 6.1 -4.5 5.2

Northeast (thousands) 740 800 770 830 770 797 780 863 848 996 988
(percent change) -7.5 3.9 -7.2 -4.6 1.8 -16.0
Midwest (thousands) 1,120 1,060 1,050 1,150 1,077 1,080 1,043 1,168 1,128 1,342 1,356
(percent change) 5.7 1.0 -8.7 2.7 3.5 -15.2
South (thousands) 1,950 1,970 1,840 2,050 1,920 1,922 1,856 1,907 1,857 2,258 2,200
(percent change) -1.0 7.1 -10.2 5.1 2.7 -17.3
West (thousands) 1,240 1,260 1,260 1,370 1,253 1,253 1,163 1,214 1,062 1,268 1,295
(percent change) -1.6 0.0 -8.0 7.9 14.4 -2.8

Inventory (thousands) 3,870 3,520 3,498 3,369 3,629 3,589 3,775 3,560 3,283 3,593 2,935
(percent change) 9.9 0.6 3.8 -5.4
(year-on-year percent change) -3.9 -2.9 -0.9 2.8 8.4 -11.3
Months' Supply 9.2 8.3 8.5 7.5 8.7 8.6 9.5 8.7 7.7 8.0 6.2

Median Sales Price ($000) 163.7 159.8 156.1 157.9 159.9 162.8 169.6 172.4 172.7 196.2 #N/A
(year-on-year percent change) -5.0 -5.8 -5.2 -4.2 -0.2 -12.4

Average Sales Price ($000) 214.6 207.3 202.3 205.8 208.1 211.0 217.6 219.5 216.8 242.0 232.8
(year-on-year percent change) -1.2 -3.4 -3.1 -3.0 1.2 -10.2

Source: Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce Via Haver Analytics. Data, graph & table courtesy of Insight Economics *Bloomberg
© 2011 HousingMatrix, Inc. http://www.HousingMatrix.com | All rights reserved. Reproduction and/or redistribution are expressly prohibited.
Hot Sheet is a registered trademark of HousingMatrix, Inc. Information contained herein is based on sources we believe to be reliable, but accuracy is not guaranteed.