The median sales price for previously occupied U.S. homes reached an all-time high for April at $417,700, an increase of 0.9% from a year earlier. This marks the 34th consecutive month that home prices have risen on an annual basis, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) going back 27 years to 1999. This continued surge in property values ensures ongoing capital accumulation for existing owners and investors, even as the housing market remains largely inaccessible to the working class.
Sales of existing homes were essentially flat in April, edging up just 0.2% from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.02 million units. This figure remained unchanged compared with April last year, falling short of economists' expectations of approximately 4.12 million or 4.05 million. The current sales pace has hovered near 4 million annually since 2023, significantly below the historic norm of 5.2 million, illustrating the deepening crisis of homeownership for the majority.
The Cost to Labor
Affordability stands as a major hurdle for aspiring homeowners. Despite claims that average incomes are now rising at a faster pace than U.S. home prices, years of soaring home values have effectively frozen many would-be homebuyers out of the market. This systemic lockout was exacerbated in the early part of this decade when rock-bottom mortgage rates fueled a buying frenzy, further concentrating property in the hands of those with existing capital.
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage ranged from 5.98%, its lowest level in three and a half years, to 6.38% in February and March, when most homes purchased last month went under contract. The average rate stood at 6.37% last week. These rates have fluctuated since the war with Iran began, as surging energy prices fuel anxiety about higher inflation, directly linking imperial foreign policy to domestic economic pressures on working families.
Capital's Grip on Supply
A chronic shortage of homes for sale nationally has been a key factor in propping up home prices, even amidst a multiyear sales slump. This scarcity is partly attributable to years of below-average new home construction, a condition that benefits developers by maintaining high demand and allowing for continued surplus extraction. While those with sufficient capital can afford to buy and are benefiting from a slight increase in available properties, overall home inventory levels remain well below historical norms.
There were 1.47 million unsold homes at the end of April, an increase of 5.8% from March and 1.4% from April last year. This represents the most homes on the market for the month of April since 7 years ago in 2019, when inventory stood at 1.83 million. However, this figure remains short of the roughly 2 million homes for sale that was typical before the COVID-19 pandemic. April’s month-end inventory translated to a 4.4-month supply at the current sales pace, falling short of the 5- to 6-month supply traditionally considered a balanced market. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, stated, “We really need to see 30% growth in inventory, but we’re not really seeing that,” highlighting the market's inability to self-correct for the benefit of the dispossessed.
Properties typically remained on the market for 32 days last month before selling, down from 41 days in March but up from 29 days in April last year. While asking prices have started falling in many metro areas, particularly in the South and Midwest, and the national median home listing price was down in April from a year earlier, these minor adjustments do not address the fundamental structural barriers to housing access. The April increase in the median sales price was driven by multi-family housing, while single-family home sales were flat, indicating continued investment in rental properties as a means of capital accumulation.