Market Report - October 2023
U.S. sales of existing homes recently fell to a 13-year low, dropping 2.0% month-over-month and 15.4% year-over-year as of last measure, according to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), as surging interest rates and elevated sales prices continue to make homeownership unaffordable for many prospective buyers. Purchase activity is down significantly compared to this time last year, but rising interest rates are also keeping many current homeowners from selling, causing inventory to remain at historically low levels nationwide.
New Listings were up 5.9 percent to 572. Pending Sales decreased 2.9 percent to 373. Inventory grew 23.8 percent to 1,312 units.
Prices moved higher as Median Sales Price was up 5.9 percent to $525,000. Days on Market increased 10.7 percent to 145 days. Months Supply of Inventory was up 42.9 percent to 3.0 months.
Total housing inventory going into October was at 1.13 million units, up 2.7% from the previous month but down 8.1% compared to the same time last year, for a 3.4 months’ supply at the current sales pace, according to NAR. The shortage of homes for sale is making it harder for buyers to find a home to purchase while at the same time pushing sales prices higher nationwide, with the median existing-home sales price rising 2.8% annually to $394,300, the third consecutive month of year-over-year price increases.