October 2023 Housing Report

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 increased 5.7 percent for Residential homes and 8.2 percent for Townhouse/Condo homes. Pending Sales increased 9.2 percent for Residential homes but decreased 7.5 percent for Townhouse/Condo homes. Inventory increased 3.3 percent for Residential homes but decreased 7.9 percent for Townhouse/Condo homes.

Median Sales Price increased 2.1 percent to $268,000 for Residential homes and 10.4 percent to $215,900 for Townhouse/Condo homes. Days on Market decreased 3.8 percent for Residential homes and 11.1 percent for Townhouse/Condo homes. Months Supply of Inventory increased 23.5 percent for Residential homes and 14.3 percent for Townhouse/Condo homes.

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.