U.S. Existing Home Sales Weaken in August
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Sales decline to seven-month low.
- Home prices edge higher.
- Purchases ease in most regions of the country.
Sales of existing homes declined 0.7% during August (-15.3% y/y) to 4.04 million (SAAR) after falling 2.2% to an unrevised 4.07 million in July. Sales have been falling since the February high of 4.55 million. They remained higher than the January low of 4.00 million. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected July sales of 4.10 million units.
The median price of an existing home (NSA) rose 0.3% (3.9% y/y) to $407,100 following a 1.0% July decline. They were 1.6% below the June 2022 peak of $413,800. The median price of an existing single-family home rose 0.6% (3.7% y/y) to $413,500 after falling 1.1% in July. The median price for condo & co-ops declined 0.9% (+6.2%) to $354,600 after falling 1.2% in July. Prices were mixed last month amongst regions of the country.
Single-family home sales fell 1.4% (-15.3% y/y) to 3.60 million units after falling an unrevised 1.9% in July. Sales remained 38.5% lower than the high of 5.85 million in October 2020. Condo and co-op sales rose 4.8% (-15.4% y/y) to 440,000 after falling 4.5% in July. Sales have fallen 41.3% from the January 2021 high of 750,000.
Sales were mixed m/m across the country. Sales in the Northeast held steady (-22.6% y/y) to 480,000 last month following a 5.9% July decline. Sales in the Midwest rose 1.0% in August (-16.4% y/y) to 970,000 after falling 3.0% in the prior month. Sales in the South fell 1.1% (-12.4% y/y) to 1.84 million, the fifth decline in six months. Sale in the West weakened 2.6% (-15.7% y/y) to 750,000 after a 2.7% July gain.
The number of existing homes for sale (NSA) fell 0.9% (-14.1% y/y) to 1.10 million in August after rising 3.7% in July. The supply of homes on the market (NSA) held steady at 3.3 months at the current selling rate, significantly higher than the record low of 1.6 months reached in January, 2022. These figures date back to January 1999.
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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