A stressed US housing market showed a few positives in September, but home shoppers continue to struggle with inventory, timing, and pricing concerns.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that existing home sales were up 7% in September over August; year-over-year EHS fell 2.3%. September was also the 115th consecutive month of YoY existing home median price increases. And housing inventory sits at 2.4 months, down from previous year’s 2.7 months. This number is still a long way from a healthy balanced real estate market.
Repeating a theme, housing inventory will remain a challenge for the duration of 2021 and into 2022, as house prices continue their upward arc, and inflationary concerns continue to boil over. Also consider that a whopping 86% of homes sold in September were on the market for less than one month.
Existing home sales numbers for September 2021:
- EHS -2.3% YoY, vs September 2020
- March SAAR: 6.29M units
- Median Price: $352,800 (+13.3% YoY)
- 115th consecutive month of YoY price increases
- Unsold Inventory: 2.4 months (down from 2.7 YoY)
- Homes sold <1 month: 86%
- First-time buyers: 28% (down 3 points YoY)
NAR’s chief economist, Lawrence Yun:
Some improvement in supply during prior months helped nudge up sales in September. Housing demand remains strong as buyers likely want to secure a home before mortgage rates increase even further next year. First-time buyers are hit particularly hard by the historically high home prices as they largely do not have the savings required to buy a home or equity to offset such a purchase.
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Read the full article at NAR:
Existing-Home Sales Housing Snapshot | www.nar.realtor

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