The U.S. housing market is still in much pain, but existing-home sales now is running at its weakest since the financial crisis of 2008. NAR said total existing-home sales-the combined number of single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops sold-reduced 1.0% in September 2024 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.84 million last week. That was down 3.5% from a year ago.
In the three major U.S. regions, sales declined in all but in the West a modest gain was reported. “While the overall volume of sales has been somewhat flat at about 4 million units for the last year, some positive aspects are starting to surface, including an uptick in housing inventory, lower mortgage rates compared to a year ago, and continued job growth,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. However, Yun said that consumer hesitation to spend on big-ticket items like houses may be part of uncertainty over the election.
Total housing inventory at September end stood at 1.39 million units that is up 1.5% from August levels but 23% over the year. Unsold inventory translates into a supply of 4.3 months of sales based on the pace established during the past 12 months. This compares with an inventory of 4.2 months in August. A year ago, at September end, it was still only 3.4 months.
The levels of distressed remain rather low, and still reflective of a still-healthy mortgage delinquency rate, even though the inventory has increased. For instance, September saw only 2% of sales in distressed properties. The existing median price for a home in September was $404,500 or 3.0% higher than in September last year at $392,700.
In August, sales declined 4.2% in the Northeast and reached 460,000 units; they reached a median price increase of 6.0% at $467,100. The Midwest experienced an area of 2.2% sales decline yet brought about an elevated median price of $306,600, or up 5.0%. Within the South, there has been a 1.7% sales decline at 1.72 million although there are only slight increases with the prices. On the other hand, the West saw a sales increase of 4.1 percent to 760,000 units and had a median price increase by 1.7 percent to $616,400.
The Realtors Confidence Index said homes spent an average of 28 days on the market in September, more than 26 days in August and 21 days a year ago. First-time buyers made up 26% of sales, matching an all-time low for that group, set in August 2024.
Freddie Mac reported that through October 17, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage stood at 6.44%, a bit higher than it was in the previous week but much lower than it was a year ago, when it stood at 7.63%.
