Home Sales Show Increase Over Last Year

According to a report that was recently shared by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), home sales at the start of the year were steady overall in most regions with only declines seen in the West. The total existing home sales of townhomes, single-families, condos and coops had decreased by just 1% in total due to the dip in sales in the West. However, total sales are significantly up by 9.6% over this time last year. 

Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, finds the outlook for 2020 home sales promising despite the drop in January. “Existing-home sales are off to a strong start at 5.46 million.” Yun said. “The trend line for housing starts is increasing and showing steady improvement, which should ultimately lead to more home sales.”

Prices of Homes

Home prices have not slowed in regards to their steady increases with January marking the 95th straight month of gains. The median home price has increased in all regions across the country and is up by 6.8% over January of last year.

Inventory Levels

The housing inventory is at its lowest point since the year 1999. Levels were down by 10.7% from one year ago at this time with unsold inventory only being at a 3.1 month supply at the current sales pace.

Days on Market

Homes were on the market for an average of 43 days in the month of January. This is an increase from 41 days seen in December the month before, but down from the 49 days in January of 2019. Forty two percent of homes that sold in January were on the market for less than a month.

Home Loan Rates

The average loan rates were remarkably lower than last year at the same time. This January the average commitment rate for a 30 year loan per Freddie Mac was 3.62% while last year this figure was 4.46%.