Despite a modestly better than expected 1.4% MoM rise (after September’s 3.4% slump), existing home sales slumped 5.1% year-over-year – the biggest drop since 2014.
A blip higher in SAAR…
Regionally, The West is suffering the most…
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Existing-home sales in the Northeast increased 1.5% to an annual rate of 690,000, 6.8% below a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $280,900, up 3.0% from October 2017.
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In the Midwest, existing-home sales declined 0.8% from last month to an annual rate of 1.27 million in October, down 3.1% from a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $197,000, up 2.4% from last year.
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Existing-home sales in the South rose 1.9% to an annual rate of 2.15 million in October, down 2.3% from last year. The median price was $221,600, up 3.8% from a year ago.
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Existing-home sales in the West grew 2.8% to an annual rate of 1.11 million in October, 11.2% below a year ago. The median price in the West was $382,900, up 1.9% from October 2017.
The median existing-home price for all housing types in October was $255,400, up 3.8 percent from October 2017 ($246,000). October’s price increase marks the 80th straight month of year-over-year gains.
And NAR agrees with President Trump in asking for rate cuts:
“Rising interest rates and increasing home prices continue to suppress the rate of first-time homebuyers. Home sales could further decline before stabilizing. The Federal Reserve should, therefore, re-evaluate its monetary policy of tightening credit, especially in light of softening inflationary pressures, to help ease the financial burden on potential first-time buyers and assure a slump in the market causes no lasting damage to the economy,” says Yun.
So is Trump right?
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