For the first five months of 2016, there were 5,765 sales reported, a 12 percent rise from 2015 when 5,119 transactions occurred over the same period.
May’s average sales price was $151,595, slightly above last May by one-half of a percent. The median price of $133,000 was two percent better than last year. Sales volume generated by May’s activity totaled $236.9 million, a 19 percent jump over last May, according to the DABR
There were 2,108 new listings added in May, down almost 7 percent from last year’s 2,265, while year-to-date listings tallied 9,343, a 3.7 percent decrease from the 9,708 submitted through May of last year.
National sales of existing homes rose 1.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.53 million, the highest level since February 2007, fueling the strongest sales rate in nearly a decade. the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday.
People remain intent on buying homes, despite the low inventory of properties on the market that has caused prices to rise. The elevated demand likely stems from low mortgage rates and a relatively healthy jobs picture with unemployment at 4.7 percent, even with a recent slowdown in hiring.
“May’s existing home sales numbers suggest that healthy demand continues to support a recovering housing market, but that inventory woes are preventing a full recovery to pre-recession levels,” said Ralph McLaughlin, chief economist at online real estate firm Trulia.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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