After six straight months of decreases, US existing home sales showed a glimmer of hope in October.
While the monthly pace increased 1.4% from September to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.22 million, the market is now down 5.1% from a year ago (5.5 million in October 2017). Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, says increasing housing inventory has brought more buyers to the market.
“After six consecutive months of decline, buyers are finally stepping back into the housing market. As more inventory enters the market and we head into the winter season, home price growth has begun to slow more meaningfully. This allows for much more manageable, less frenzied buying conditions.”
The median price for existing homes rose 3.8%, making October the 80th consecutive month of year-over-year price gains. October’s pricing averaged $255,400, versus $246,000 for last year.
Total housing inventory finished at 1.85M units, which nudged downward from September (1.88M), but upward from last year. Unsold inventory sits at a 4.3-month supply, which is up from 3.9 months a year ago. Healthy real estate markets tend to gravitate to a 6-month supply.
Read the full article:
Existing-Home Sales Increase for the First Time in Six Months | www.nar.realtor