Existing home sales were up last month at the quickest pace seen since January, as per the most recent information from the National Association of Realtors.
The NAR said Wednesday that recently involved home sales increased 1.9% in November from the prior month to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 6.46 million units. That is the sharpest expansion in ten months, however sales were down 2% contrasted with November of 2020.
“The annualized sales pace saw the strongest reading since January 2021, but was also accompanied by a 10% drop in for-sale inventory,” Kan continued, noting that “the 1.1 million units for sale is less than half of the historical average.”
The national median home cost likewise saw a lift in November to $353,900, up 13.9% from that same month last year as low inventory keeps on driving up demand for houses on the market.
“Buyers continued to snap up available homes, as for-sale listings only lasted 18 days on the market,” explained Kan. “This swift competition continues to exert upward pressure on sales prices, overall home-price growth, and is impacting prospective first-time buyers. They continued to struggle reaching the market and only represented 26% of all sales last month – down from 29% in October and 32% last November.”
Yet, Kan sees some expectation on the inventory end.
“The U.S. Census Bureau’s recent release on housing starts indicated a surge in new construction and permitting activity in November, which will hopefully start to help ease the housing supply shortages the market is facing,” he said.
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Chicago Headlines journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.
