Housing sales stayed at near-record levels in May, with higher median prices (price above which half the sales occurred) and continuing low inventories of unsold houses, a combination that implies further construction in the near term. Today, the government reported that sales of new single-family homes were at a SAAR of 1,298,000, 2% higher than the rate in April and less than 1% below the record set last October. Year-to-date sales were 4% higher than in the first five months of 2004. Yesterday, the National Assn. of Realtors reported that May sales of existing homes, including condos and co-ops, also were within 1% of the previous record, set in April. The median selling price in May 2005 was up 2.5% over the May 2004 median for new houses and 12.5% for existing houses. The number of unsold new houses at month's end equaled 4.2 times the number sold, the same ratio as in April and March. For existing houses, the ratio rose slightly to a still-low 4.3.
Condos and co-ops have performed best of all, with sales at a record SAAR, up 11% from May 2004, and prices up 15%. On Wednesday, the Journal reported that shopping malls have become a “hot commodity” for building condos and apartments, citing plans by General Growth Properties to build residences on malls in Hawaii, a Boston suburb, and Alexandria, Virginia, and by Simon Property Group to include them in Florida, Atlanta, and Boston. But another story in Wednesday's Journal said, “The air appears to be seeping out of Chicago's bubbly condo markets. In recent months, several luxury condominium projects have suffered slower-than-expected sales.”