Existing Home Sales According to the National Association of Realtors

 Existing Home Sales According to the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales for January increased by +.6% to an annualized rate of 6.69mln units. Looking YoY, this is +23.7% higher vs. January 2020, and is the second highest sales pace since April 2006. “Home sales are continuing to play a part in propping up the economy,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR. “With additional stimulus likely to pass and several vaccines now available, the housing outlook looks solid for this year.” While looking solid on headline, inventory remains the biggest issue ahead. There were 1.04mln homes for sale at the end of January, which is a -26% drop from a year ago. At the current sales pace, there is now a 1.9-month supply, the lowest since 1982 when tracking began. With a lack of supply and high demand, prices have continued to increase as well. The median price of an existing home sold in January was $303,900, a +14.1% increase from January 2020, and the highest January print in history. “We need to build more homes,” said Yun. “Even though housing starts show a decline, it is interesting that the housing permits, the desire to build homes, remains at the highest in over a decade.” We also see that activity was the slowest on the very low end of the market, with sales of homes priced below $100,000 down -28% YoY, and sales of million-dollar homes up +77%. In addition, the number of days on the market continued to be very swift, with homes selling on average in 21 days, compared with last January at 43 days. Finally, the regional breakouts showed declines in the West (-4.4% to 1.31mln) and Northeast (-2.2% to 870k), with gains in the South (+3.2% to 2.94mln) and Midwest (+1.9% to 1.57mln).

 

 

For More Information On Chautauqua Lake & County Real Estate and Living Visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com