Dive Brief:
- Existing-home sales, including single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, slipped 3.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.36 million units in October, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday.
- Despite the fact that October's results "failed to keep up with September's jump," existing-home sales are still 3.9% higher than during October 2014, according to the NAR.
- The median existing-home price last month was $219,600 — 5.8% above October 2014. The bump in October home prices signals the 44th consecutive month of year-over-year increases.
Dive Insight:
Despite the dip in October sales, the NAR report also offered positive news: The share of first-time buyers in October reached 31%, up from 29% in September and 29% in October 2014.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun attributed the dip in overall October existing-home sales to the lack of available supply, especially for first-time and lower-income buyers. Also, "the mixed signals of slowing economic growth and volatility in the financial markets slightly tempered demand and contributed to the decreasing pace of sales," he said.
So far, housing market reports for this month have been disappointing. Homebuilder confidence unexpectedly fell three points in November to a score of 62, and housing starts slipped 11% to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.06 million units — the lowest rate since March. The Commerce Department will release new home sales data for October on Wednesday.
