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Home sales in the United States cooled in the last month of the summer.
Sales of existing homes fell 2% to 5.88 million seasonally adjusted units in August from the previous month, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). July sales were revised slightly upwards to 6 million units. The results exceeded analysts’ expectations of a 1.7% drop, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates. The drop was expected as pending home sales – a leading indicator of real sales – fell for two consecutive months, in July and June.
“The housing sector is taking hold,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said on a press call releasing the results, adding that the increase in activity last year when the lockdowns of COVID-19 have been lifted “was an anomaly”.
Since the start of the year, home sales have increased by 16% compared to the same period a year ago and by 12% compared to the same period in 2019. This indicates that the sales activity is still higher than pre-pandemic levels. In February 2020, before the pandemic shutdowns, there were 5.7 million units sold.
“Home sales are trying to return to normal balance,” Yun said.
“While home sales remain buoyant by historical standards, existing home sales in August offset some of the gains made earlier in the summer – a potential sign of buyer fatigue after months of record low and rapid growth in house prices, ”said Matthew Speakman. , an economist at Zillow, in a press release after the data was released.
The total housing stock, or houses available for sale at the end of August, stood at 1.29 million units, down 1.5% from supply in July and in 13.4% decrease compared to a year ago (1.49 million). At the current pace of sales, unsold inventory stands at a 2.6 month supply, unchanged from July but down from 3.0 months in August 2020.
Yun said stocks are still tight but the declines are not as severe, adding that by December or January 2022, he expects stocks to “turn around and go up.” Home building activity will steadily increase inventories. Single-family home construction is up 24% year-to-date, he noted.
“While real estate activity has clearly calmed down from its frenzy in the midst of the pandemic, home sales remain well above the pre-pandemic rate and the median selling price continues to rise, although at a slower pace, ”said Danielle, chief economist for Realtor.com. Hale, in a press release ahead of the results.
The median price of existing homes for all housing types in August was $ 356,700, up 14.9% from August 2020 ($ 310,400), as prices rose in all four regions of the states -United. said the pace of growth is slowing from the + 20% increases we saw in last year’s surge in activity. Tight stocks continue to push up prices and put pressure on housing affordability.
First-time buyers account for just 29% of sales for the month, the lowest level since January 2019.
“Securing a home remains a major challenge for many potential buyers,” Yun said. “A number of potential buyers have simply stopped their search, but their desire and need for a home remains.”
Amanda Fung is a writer at Yahoo Finance.
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