Existing-home sales increase nationally for the first time in six months
Existing-home sales increased
“As more inventory enters the
market and we head into the winter
season, home price growth has
begun to slow more meaningfully,”
said Yun. “This allows for much
more manageable, less frenzied
buying conditions.”
Realtor.com’s Market Hotness
Index, measuring time-on-the-market
data and listings views per property,
revealed that the hottest metro areas
in October were Midland, Texas; Fort
Wayne, Ind.; Odessa, Texas; Boston-
Cambridge-Newton, Mass.; and
Columbus, Ohio.
According to Freddie Mac,
the average commitment rate for
a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate
mortgage increased to 4.83 percent
in October from 4.63 percent in
September. The average commitment
rate for all of 2017 was 3.99 percent.
“Rising interest rates and
increasing home prices continue
to suppress the rate of first-time
homebuyers. Home sales could further
decline before stabilizing. The Federal
Reserve should, therefore, re-evaluate
its monetary policy of tightening
credit, especially in light of softening
inflationary pressures, to help ease the
financial burden on potential firsttime
buyers and assure a slump in the
market causes no lasting damage to
the economy,” says Yun.
First-time buyers were responsible
for 31 percent of sales in October, down
from last month and a year ago (32
percent). NAR’s 2018 Profile of Home
Buyers and Sellers – released in late
2018 – revealed that the annual share of
first-time buyers was 33 percent.
“Despite this much-welcomed
month over month gain, sales are still
down from a year ago, a large reason
for which is affordability challenges
from higher interest rates,” said NAR
President John Smaby, a secondgeneration
Realtor® from Edina,
Minnesota and broker at Edina Realty.
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in October after six straight
months of decreases,
according to the National
Association of Realtors®. Three of four
major U.S. regions saw gains in sales
activity last month.
Total existing-home sales, which
are completed transactions that include
single-family homes, townhomes,
condominiums and co-ops, increased
1.4 percent from September to a
seasonally adjusted rate of 5.22 million
in October. Sales are now down 5.1
percent 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,” he said. “Gains in the
Northeast, South and West – a
reversal from last month’s steep
decline or plateau in all regions –
helped overall sales activity rise for
the first time since March 2018.”
The median existing-home price
for all housing types in October
was $255,400, up 3.8 percent from
October 2017 ($246,000). October’s
price increase marks the 80th straight
month of year-over-year gains.
Total housing inventory at the
end of October decreased from 1.88
million in September to 1.85 million
existing homes available for sale, but
that represents an increase from 1.80
million a year ago. Unsold inventory
is at a 4.3-month supply at the current
sales pace, down from 4.4 last month
and up from 3.9 months a year ago.
Properties typically stayed on the
market for 33 days in October, up from
32 days in September but down from
34 days a year ago. Forty-six percent
of homes sold in October were on the
market for less than a month.
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