US existing home sales rise more than expected in April

Sales of existing US homes rose 1.7% in April to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.45m from an upwardly-revised 5.36m the previous month, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.

The jump was bigger than the 1.2% increase analysts had pencilled in.

Sales were up 6% from April 2015 and the median price for a home rose 6.3% to $232,500.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said April’s sales increase signals slowly building momentum for the housing market this spring.

"Primarily driven by a convincing jump in the Midwest, where home prices are most affordable, 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.

"Except for in the West — where supply shortages and stark price growth are hampering buyers the most — sales are meaningfully higher than a year ago in much of the country."