September existing home sales–including single-family homes, town homes, condominiums and co-ops–soared to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.47 million from August’s downwardly revised 5.3 million, up 3.2% month-over-month, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday morning. The gain reversed a two-month decline.
The Realtors reported 34% of the month’s sales were to first-time buyers, a four-year high.
Single-family resales were at a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.86 million, up 4.1% from August and 0.6% aheard of the same month a year earlier.
“The home search over the past several months for a lot of prospective buyers, and especially for first-time buyers, took longer than usual because of the competition for the minimal amount of homes for sale,” said Laurence Yun, NAR chief economist, in a statement. “Most families and move-up buyers look to close before the new school year starts. Their diminishing presence from the market towards the end of summer created more opportunities for aspiring first-time homeowners to buy last month.”
Y-O-Y Resale Price Change
United States:
Sept 2016: $235,700
Sept 2015: $223,300
Y-o-Y Percent Change: 5.6%
Northeast:
Sept 2016: $262,400
Sept 2015: $259,100
Y-o-Y Percent Change: 1.3%
Midwest:
Sept 2016: $185,900
Sept 2015: $175,500
Y-o-Y Percent Change: 5.9%
South:
Sept 2016: $208,200
Sept 2015: $194,900
Y-o-Y Percent Change: 6.8%
West
Sept 2016: $347,500
Sept 2015: $322,200
Y-o-Y Percent Change: 7.9%
All regions reported gains in single-family resales, with the Northeast leading at a 6.9% hike. The West came in second with an increase of 4.8%, followed by the Midwest (4.2%) and South (2.7%).
Total housing inventory at the end of September rose 1.5% to 2.04 million but is still 6.8% lower than a year ago, which is pushing up the price across the country. National median price for an existing single-family home rose 5.6% from $223,300 last September to this month’s $235,700. As the hottest home market, the West saw its median price soaring by 7.9% to $347,500, followed by the South (6.8%), the Midwest (5.9%), and the Northeast(1.3%).
The following is a breakdown of percent change of sales by price range in the existing single-family market.
“Inventory has been extremely tight all year and is unlikely to improve now that the seasonal decline in listings is about to kick in,” Yun said. “Unfortunately, there won’t be much relief from new home construction, which continues to be grossly inadequate in relation to demand.”
Read the full release on NAR >>
