Existing home sales in September fell 2.0%, hitting its lowest level since October 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The seasonally adjusted annual rate was 3.96 million. Year-over-year, sales were 15.4% lower than last year this time.
Home resale inventory and strong demand are still pushing existing home prices up. September marks the third consecutive month of price increase year-over-year.
The share of first-time buyers decreased to 27%. That’s down from 29% in August 2023 and September 2022. The inventory level for September rose slightly to 1.13 million units. But that’s still an 8.1% decline from last year.
September’s unsold inventory represents 3.4-months’ supply. That’s up from last month’s 3.3-months, and 3.2-months a year ago.
Homes remained on the market for an average of 21 days. That’s up from 20 days in August and up 19 days from September 2022. Around 69% of homes sold in September were on the market for less than a month.
The share of all-cash sales were up in September. They represented 29% of transactions, up from 27% in August and 22% a year ago.
September’s median sales price of existing homes was $394,300. That’s up 2.8% from a year ago. The median existing condo/co-op price was $353,800, up 6.8% from a year ago.
Regionally, September existing home sales varied.
Sales in the South, West, and Midwest decreased by 1.1%, 5.3%, and 4.1% respectively. In the Northeast, sales rose by 4.2%. Year-over-year, all four regions saw double-digit declines in sales. The South saw a decline of -11.7%. The West, -19.3%.
NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) dropped 7.1% from 77.3 to 71.8 in August. It was 18.7% lower than a year ago, which indicates further decline in existing home sales ahead.
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