In April, sales of previously owned homes were 6.1 percent higher than they were at the same time last year. But, though sales levels were elevated from the year before, they slowed a bit from March’s pace, dropping 3.3 percent on a month-over-month basis. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said the drop was due to a lack of available homes for sale. “April’s setback is the result of lagging supply relative to demand and the upward pressure it’s putting on prices,” Yun said. “However, the overall data and feedback we’re hearing from Realtors continues to point to elevated levels of buying interest compared to a year ago. With low interest rates and job growth, more buyers will be encouraged to enter the market unless prices accelerate even higher in relation to income.” In other words, there are a lot of prospective buyers looking for homes but not enough homes for sale. However, that may be changing. The NAR also reports that total for-sale inventory increased 10 percent in April, bringing the number of homes available for sale to 2.21 million. At the current sales pace, that’s a 5.3-month supply. Typically, a 6-month supply is considered a healthy market. More here.