Home sales continue to rise
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But a record stock of available homes and more luxury homes sold have pushed the median home price to a record $ 313,000, almost 16% higher than a year ago. The total housing stock is down 3% from September and nearly 20% from a year ago.
Homes sold at a steady pace in October, with more than 7 in 10 homes sold on the market for less than a month. At the current rate of sales, it would only take 2.5 months to empty existing inventory, a record.
Sales of existing homes – which include single-family homes, townhouses, condominiums and co-ops – were up 4.3% from September and 26.6% from a year ago, for reach a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.85 million in October.
âConsidering that we remain in a period of stubbornly high unemployment from pre-pandemic levels, the housing sector has performed remarkably well this year,â said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of NAR.
While the coronavirus-induced closings have hampered virtually every market, Yun says the housing industry has seen an impressive rebound.
âWe see home sales continuing to grow at a steady pace through 2020 and into 2021,â said Ruben Gonzalez, chief economist at real estate firm Keller Williams. “Record interest rates have continued to support demand, however, supply shortages remain a limiting factor and continue to put pressure on home prices.”
While fewer homes have sold this year compared to last year in the lower segment of the market due to lack of inventory, sales at the high end are significantly higher than a year ago. which raises the median price of all homes.
Nationally, homes selling between $ 750,000 and $ 1 million are up 80% from a year ago and homes priced at $ 1 million and above more than doubled.
“The continued rise in home purchases shows not only a catching up in sales compared to the start of the year when the closures dampened real estate activity, but also the strength of buyer interest combined with the opportunity offered by mortgage rates as low as ever, âsaid Danielle Hale. , Chief Economist of Realtor.com.
Yun expects this to continue.
“With the news that a Covid-19 vaccine will be available soon, and with mortgage rates projected around 3% in 2021, I expect market growth to continue in 2021.”
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