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U.S. existing home sales increase in April

Xinhua, May 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

Existing home sales in the United States rose in April due to sales jump in the Midwest, an industry report showed Friday.

Total existing home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 1.7 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.45 million in April, 6 percent above a year ago, said the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

April's sales increase was "primarily driven by a convincing jump in the Midwest, where home prices are most affordable," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.

Sales of existing home in the Midwest including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and other 9 states, surged 12.1 percent in April from March, said the NAR.

"Sales activity overall was at a healthy pace last month as very low mortgage rates and modest seasonal inventory gains encouraged more households to search for and close on a home," said Yun.

Total housing inventory at the end of April increased 9.2 percent to 2.14 million existing homes available for sales, which represents a 4.7-month supply at the current sales pace.

The median existing home price for all housing types in April was 232,500 U.S. dollars, 6.3 percent above the level a year ago. Enditem