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.
- Single Family Closed Sales were down 15.9 percent to 1,414.
- Townhouse-Condo Closed Sales were down 10.0 percent to 423. • Adult Communities
- Closed Sales were down 12.1 percent to 51.
- Single Family Median Sales Price increased 11.4 percent to $559,450.
- Townhouse-Condo Median Sales Price increased 20.9 percent to $405,000.
- Adult Communities Median Sales Price increased 7.1 percent to $455,000.
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.
