September Existing-Home Sales Rose 3.2%

Washington, DC, October 20, 2016—Total existing-home sales hiked 3.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.47 million in September from a downwardly revised 5.30 million in August, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales are now at their highest pace since June (5.57 million) and are 0.6% above a year ago (5.44 million).

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says the two-month slump in existing sales reversed course convincingly in September. "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," he said. "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."

The median existing-home price for all housing types in September was $234,200, up 5.6% from September 2015 ($221,700). September's price increase marks the 55th consecutive month of year-over-year gains. 

Total housing inventory  at the end of September rose 1.5% to 2.04 million existing homes available for sale, but is still 6.8% lower than a year ago (2.19 million) and has now fallen year-over-year for 16 straight months. Unsold inventory is at a 4.5-month supply at the current sales pace, which is down from 4.6 months in August.

"Inventory has been extremely tight all year and is unlikely to improve now that the seasonal decline in listings is about to kick in," added Yun. "Unfortunately, there won't be much relief from new home construction, which continues to be grossly inadequate in relation to demand." 

Matching the highest share since July 2012, first-time buyers were 34% of sales in September, which is up from 31% in August and 29% a year ago. First-time buyers represented 30% of sales in all of 2015.