Real Estate

US existing home sales stable in August after 4 months of decline


Following four months of decline, data on Thursday showed that sales of previously owned homes in the US were unchanged in August as buyers continue to grapple with rising home prices and tight inventory.

Existing home sales were unchanged in August from the previous month at an annualised pace of 3.4m units, following a 0.7 per cent drop the previous month, the National Association of Realtors said on Thursday.

That missed expectations for a 0.3 per cent rise to 5.35m that economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecast. Sales were down 1.5 per cent from a year ago.

A regional breakdown showed sales in the north-east rose 7.6 per cent and in midwest rose 2.4 per cent month-on-month. Sales however fell 5.9 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively in the west and the south.

Despite robust demand for homes driven by strength in the US labour market and improving wages, a tight supply has driven up home prices and rising mortgage rates have also curtailed homebuying.

“While inventory continues to show modest year over year gains, it is still far from a healthy level and new home construction is not keeping up to satisfy demand,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR. “Homes continue to fly off the shelves with a majority of properties selling within a month, indicating that more inventory — especially moderately priced, entry-level homes — would propel sales.”

Realtors across the country have said while clients are excited about the prospect of listing their homes and receiving numerous offers, they are worried that they will not be able to find a home, NAR president Elizabeth Mendenhall said.

Thursday’s report showed that the median price for all housing types was up 4.6 per cent from a year ago to $264,800 and that inventory at the end of August stood at 1.92m, up 2.7 per cent from a year ago and unchanged from the previous month. Unsold inventory represents a 4.3-month supply at the current sales pace



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