Sales of exisiting homes in Salt Lake City climbed more than 20 percent in April over the previous year, a phenomenon that bucked the sluggish national real estate market.
Real estate experts attributed slow sales nationwide to high mortgage rates.According to statistics compiled by the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, 502 single-family homes were sold in April, compared to 417 in 1989.
Sales volume increased by 28 percent over the same time period, climbing from $41.5 million from $32.4 million.
The National Association of Realtors said overall resales of single-family homes slipped 2.1 percent, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.33 million units. It was the third drop in four months as mortgage rates remained high. Sales were unchanged in March.
The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Crop. said rates ranged from 10.25 percent to 10.56 percent in April. They had dipped back to 10.33 percent by the end of this past week.
Rates also have affected sales of new homes, which fell for four consecutive months through March. The Commerce Department will release the April sales figures Wednesday.
Although mortgage costs remained high, sales of existing homes in the Northeast increased for the first time since October. Purchasers bought at an annual rate of 520,000 units in April, up 4 percent from the 500,000 units sold the previous month.
Norman D. Flynn, Realtors president, said inventories have risen while prices have fallen, and the buyers' market caused by supply exceeding demand attracted buyers despite the high rates.
The median price of an existing home in the Northeast was down 5.4 percent to $140,700, compared to the national median of $95,300. The median price means half of the homes cost more, half less.
Elsewhere, sales fell.
In the high-cost Western market, sales plummeted 7.9 percent to 580,000 units, despite a 4.9 percent drop in its median price to $134,900. The median price had been $147,100 as recently as November.
The resale rate in the South fell 3.7 percent to 1.31 million units. The median price was down 0.3 percent.
Sales also slipped 1.1 percent to 900,000 units in the Midwest, where the median price fell 2.4 percent to $75,300.