Existing-home at the Lowest Level
Existing-home sales in September 2023
have declined to their lowest level since October 2010.
NAR has published a synopsis of existing-home sales data, revealing a 2.0% decrease in housing market activity for September 2023 when compared to August 2023. Existing-home sales for September were reported at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.96 million. This represents a substantial 15.4% decline in existing home sales compared to September 2022.
The national median existing-home price for all housing types reached $394,300 in September, up 2.8% from a year ago.
In September, price growth across all four regions exhibited positive trends compared to the previous year. The Northeast led the way with the most substantial increase at 5.2%, closely followed by the Midwest, which experienced a 4.7% upturn. Meanwhile, the South recorded a 3.1% surge, and the Western region saw a 1.8% uptick in prices.
As of the end of September, the inventory of unsold listings registered a 2.7% increase over the previous month, reaching a total of 1,130,000 homes available for sale. However, compared to September 2022, inventory levels showed an 8.1% decrease. Currently, it will take just 3.4 months to clear the existing inventory at the present sales pace, which is significantly lower than the target rate of 6 months. The persistent inventory constraints present an ongoing challenge for prospective homebuyers.
In the current housing market, the average time for a property to transition from listing to contract is approximately 21 days. This marks a slight increase from 19 days recorded a year ago.
When assessing year-over-year data for September, all four regions experienced substantial double-digit drops in sales. The West took the most significant hit with a substantial decline of 19.3%, closely followed by the Midwest, which witnessed an 18.4% decrease. The Northeast also observed a notable dip of 16.7%, while the South recorded an 11.7% reduction in sales.
Compared to the preceding month, August 2023, three out of the four regions exhibited sales declines. Only the Northeast saw an increase of 4.2%. The West region faced the most significant decline in sales, with a notable drop of 5.3%, followed by the Midwest, which experienced a 4.1% decrease. The South region showed the smallest decrease last month, at 1.1%.
In terms of national sales distribution, the South took the lead, accounting for 46% of the total share, while the Northeast claimed the smallest portion at 12.6%.