Existing Home Sales Crash To Slowest Since 2010, Hit Record Low In The West

With housing affordability at its lowest since at least the early 1980s, (and homebuilder sentiment slumping as mortgage rates rose), it’s no surprise that analysts expected existing home sales in October to tumble 1.5% MoM. 

Sales actually fell 4.1% MoM (far worse than expected and down for the 20th time in the last 23 months) with September’s 2.0% MoM decline revised even lower to -2.2% MoM. That decline left existing home sales down 14.6% YoY…

Source: Bloomberg

The total existing home sales SAAR plunged to 3.79mm – the lowest since the tax credit expired in Aug 2010…

Source: Bloomberg

Sales fell in three of four regions, while they were unchanged in the Midwest. They hit a record low in the West and matched an all-time low in the Northeast

Finally, the percentage of homes that are vacant fell to the lowest level on record in August, and ticked up only slightly in September…

Ever the optimistic,Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, suggested that:

“Fortunately, mortgage rates have fallen for the third straight week, stirring up buying interest,” adding “though limited now, expect housing inventory to improve after this winter and heading into the spring.”

Good luck with that idea Larry!

Yun added that nearly a third of homes sold above their list price, indicating that multiple offers are still occurring with the median selling price climbed 3.4% from a year earlier to $391,800, the highest for any October in data back to 1999.

New home prices have peaked as homebuilders cut prices to win market share.

Existing home prices still near record as current owners less pressured to sell, chase bids, comparable mortgage rates ridiculously high. pic.twitter.com/8dIXWBV26B

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 21, 2023

Even though the number of homes for sale ticked up from a month earlier to 1.15 million, it’s still the lowest for any October in the series.

Finally, first-time buyers made up a historically low 28% of purchases in October