Low inventory, elevated sales prices, and decades-high interest rates continue to weigh on the housing market, causing sales of existing homes to fall to their slowest pace since August 2010. According to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), U.S. existing-home sales declined 4.1%month-over-month and 14.6% year-over-year as of last measure, as prospective buyers, faced with rising homeownership costs, wait for mortgage rates, and home prices, to drop.
New Listings increased 3.3 percent for Residential homes and 10.7 percent for Townhouse/Condo homes. Pending Sales increased 5.8 percent for Residential homes but decreased 2.6 percent for Townhouse/Condo homes. Inventory increased 4.4 percent for Residential homes but remained flat for Townhouse/Condo homes.
Median Sales Price decreased 2.5 percent to $253,500 for Residential homes but increased 9.4 percent to $235,000 for Townhouse/Condo homes. Days on Market increased 3.4 percent for Residential homes but decreased 14.8 percent for Townhouse/Condo homes. Months Supply of Inventory increased 17.6 percent for Residential homes and 23.1 percent for Townhouse/Condo homes.
Inventory remains at historically low levels nationwide, with only 1.15 million homes for sale heading into November, a 5.7% decline compared to the same time last year, for a 3.6 months’ supply at the current sales pace. The shortage of available properties for sale has kept pressure on home prices, which have continued to climb despite the slowdown in sales. According to NAR, the U.S. median existing-home sales price increased 3.4% from a year ago to $391,800, an all-time high for the month, with annual price gains reported in all four regions of the country.
