Housing affordability continues to be a major roadblock for market participants, with mortgage rates more than double compared to this time last year. Buyers are delaying home purchases in hopes rates will drop, while many sellers are holding off on listing their homes due to weakening buyer demand, unwilling to trade in their current lower rates for significantly higher borrowing costs on their next property. As a result, existing home and pending home sales have continued to slow as we move into winter.
New Listings were down 12.3% for single-family homes and 41.9% for Condo/TIC/Coop properties. Pending Sales decreased 31.7% for single-family homes and 49.2% for Condo/TIC/Coop properties.
The Median Sales Price was down 20.2% to $1,500,000 for single-family homes and 8.9% to $1,148,000 for Condo/TIC/Coop properties. Months' Supply of Inventory increased 21.4% for single-family units and 6.9% for Condo/TIC/Coop units.
With home sales down, nationwide housing inventory was at 3.3 months’ supply heading into November, up from 2.4 months from this time last year, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Although buyers have more options to choose from, home prices remain high, and soaring borrowing costs have caused monthly payments to increase significantly, with the average homebuyer paying 77% more on their loan per month compared to the same period a year ago, according to Realtor.com.
