April’s Surge of Sales is a National Trend

Lawrence Yun, Chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, reported this week that April’s sales across the country were at the highest level that they have been since October 2009. During that month, an earlier version of the homebuyer tax credit was due to expire on November 1, 2009 and people were racing to buy in order to qualify. Yun pointed out that sales in April 2010 were 22.4% higher than April 2009.
?The home buyer tax credit brought close to 1 million additional buyers into the market, which is now helping the trade-up market and has significantly improved the inventory situation. This stabilized home prices more quickly and has preserved about $900 billion in home equity; in turn, that is keeping additional households from going underwater and risking foreclosure,? Yun said.
Existing home sales for May will be reported on June 22, 2010.