U.S. sales of existing homes recently fell to a 13-year low, dropping 2.0% month-over-month and 15.4% year-over-year as of last measure, according to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), as surging interest rates and elevated sales prices continue to make homeownership unaffordable for many prospective buyers. Purchase activity is down significantly compared to this time last year, but rising interest rates are also keeping many current homeowners from selling, causing inventory to remain at historically low levels nationwide.
New Listings were down 1.6% for single-family homes and 17.2% for Condo/TIC/Coop properties. Pending Sales increased 16.9% for single-family homes but decreased 4.1% for Condo/TIC/Coop properties.
The Median Sales Price was down 1.2% to $1,650,000 for single-family homes and 1.3% to $1,185,000 for Condo/TIC/Coop properties. Months' Supply of Inventory increased 13% for single-family units and 30.8% for Condo/TIC/Coop units.
Total housing inventory going into October was at 1.13 million units, up 2.7% from the previous month but down 8.1% compared to the same time last year, for a 3.4 months’ supply at the current sales pace, according to NAR. The shortage of homes for sale is making it harder for buyers to find a home to purchase while at the same time pushing sales prices higher nationwide, with the median existing-home sales price rising 2.8% annually to $394,300, the third consecutive month of year-over-year price increases.
