Home Sales See 7% Increase

The total number of existing home sales has shown another increase recently. According to a report that was just issued by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) each of the four major areas in the United States have seen increases on a monthly basis. 

Total existing home sales of completed transactions of properties including single family homes, townhomes, condos and co-ops had risen by 7% in September from the month prior. While home sales had risen as the fall market had arrived they were marginally down by 2.3% from last year at this time. 

"Some improvement in supply during prior months helped nudge up sales in September," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. "Housing demand remains strong as buyers likely want to secure a home before mortgage rates increase even further next year."

Housing Inventory

By the close of September total inventory of homes available for sale was down by 0.8% from the month prior and also down by 13% from this time in 2020. Available inventory of property sits at a 2.4 month supply at the current sales pace which is lower than the 2.7 months that we experienced in September of last year.

"As mortgage forbearance programs end, and as homebuilders ramp up production – despite the supply-chain material issues – we are likely to see more homes on the market as soon as 2022," said Yun.

Home Price Trends

The median existing home price for the month of September for all property types had increased by over 13% from this time last year. Each of the major regions of the United States experienced gains making for the 115th consecutive month for year-over-year increases. 

Number of Days on Market

Properties remained on the market for the same amount of time in September as August at just 17 days. This was lower than the 21 days seen in September of last year. More than three quarters of the properties sold in September were on the market for less than one month.

Home Loan Rates

The average commitment rate for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage was 2.90% in September according to Freddie Mac. This was marginally higher than August at 2.84% but lower than the average for the entire year of 2020 at 3.11%.