A report issued by the National Association of Realtors on Wednesday unexpectedly indicated a continued decline in existing home sales across the U.S. for September.
NAR reported that existing home sales dropped by 1.0 percent to an annual rate of 3.84 million in September, following a 2.0 percent decrease to a revised rate of 3.88 million in August.
Economists had anticipated a 1.0 percent rise in existing home sales to a rate of 3.90 million, compared to the originally reported 3.86 million for the previous month.
“Home sales have essentially hovered around a four-million-unit pace for the past year, but conditions typically linked to increased home sales are emerging,” stated NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
“There are now more inventory options for buyers, mortgage rates are lower than they were last year, and job additions continue to support the economy,” he noted. “Perhaps some consumers are delaying significant expenditures like home purchases until after the upcoming election.”
The report further revealed that the housing inventory at the end of September totaled 1.39 million units, which is a 1.5 percent increase from 1.37 million units in August and a 23.0 percent increase from 1.13 million units a year prior.
This unsold inventory reflects 4.3 months of supply at the current sales pace, compared with 4.2 months in August and 3.4 months in September 2023.
“Increased inventory is certainly beneficial for home buyers, as it offers more properties to consider before making a final decision,” Yun remarked. “However, the number of distressed properties is low, given that the mortgage delinquency rate remains very low.”
NAR also reported that the median existing home price was $404,500 in September, a decrease of 2.3 percent from $414,200 in August, but an increase of 3.0 percent from $392,700 a year ago.
On Thursday, the Commerce Department is set to release its report on new home sales for September.
Currently, economists are predicting new home sales to rise to an annual rate of 720,000 in September, following a drop to a rate of 716,000 in August.
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