U.S. Existing Home Sales Dip to Lowest Since 2010
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Sales fall for twelfth straight month.
- Changes were mixed across regions.
- Prices slide to twelve-month low.
Sales of existing homes eased 0.7% during January (-36.9% y/y) to 4.00 million (SAAR) from 4.03 million in December, revised from 4.02 million. Sales stood at the at the lowest level since October 2010. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected January sales of 4.020 million units.
Single-family home sales fell 0.8% (-36.1% y/y) in January to 3.59 million units. Sales have fallen in each month since January 2022. Condo and co-op sales held steady at 410,000 (-43.1% y/y), following a 6.8% December drop.
Sales were mixed m/m across the country. In the Midwest, sales declined 5.0% (-33.3%y/y) to 960,000 after a 1.9% December decline. Sales in the Northeast fell 3.8% (-35.9% y/y) to 500,000 following a 3.7% December drop. Working 2.9% higher (-42.4% y/y) were sales in the West to 720,000, following m/m stability in December. Also rising were sales in the South. The 1.1% January increase to 1.82 million (-36.6% y/y) came after a 2.7% December drop.
The number of existing homes for sale (NSA) rose 2.1% (15.3% y/y) in January, the first increase after five straight months of decline. The months' supply of homes on the market (NSA) held at 2.9 months at the current selling rate, up from a record low of 1.6 months reached in January of last year. These figures date back to January 1999.
The median price of an existing home (NSA) fell 2.0% (+1.3% y/y) to $359,000 following six straight months of decline. They were 13.2% below the June peak of $413,800. Prices declined last month in all four regions of the country.
The data on existing home sales, prices and affordability are compiled by the National Association of Realtors. The data on single-family home sales extend back to February 1968. Total sales and price data and regional sales can be found in Haver's USECON database. Regional price and affordability data and national inventory data are available in the REALTOR database. The expectations figure is from the Action Economics Forecast Survey, reported in the AS1REPNA database.
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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