Tag Archives: Existing Home Sales

Sales of pre-owned homes stalled out in November, plunging to their slowest pace in half a year only one month after hitting a 2014 high. Despite the stumble, home resales in November were still up 2.1 percent from year-ago levels, making it just the second month in 2014 to see sales rise year-over-year. It's been a year of starts and stops for home sales, which have struggled under the weight of rising mortgage rates (a trend that has reversed in recent months), a tighter lending environment, declining affordability, and a lack of housing stock available for buyers.

The figures for both sales and median price for existing homes in October were higher than the "10-year October average," or the average of that data from the previous 10 Octobers, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Pending home sales declined month-to-month in October but remained higher than they were a year ago, according to the latest Pending Home Sales Index from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Based on data collected for this month, Auction.com predicts existing-home sales will fall between seasonally adjusted annual averages of 4.97 and 5.38 million units, with a targeted prediction of 5.19 million. October's sales rate comes just above September's rate of 5.10 million (as predicted by Auction.com).

The drop in the pending sales measure came in the same month that the association reported a dip in existing home sales. According to NAR, sales of existing homes in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million, down 1.8 percent from July.

Growth was described as "modest" in the New York, Cleveland, Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas, and San Francisco districts, while Philadelphia, Atlanta, St. Louis, and Kansas City reported “modest” growth. Looking ahead, contacts in about half of the districts "generally remained optimistic about future growth," while most of the other districts saw ongoing optimism in specific sectors.

Though pending sales were down 2.1 percent compared to a year ago, July's figure was the highest since August 2013 and was the third straight month in which the index measured above 100, a value NAR considers to be an average level of contract activity.

Existing-home sales in June touched their highest level so far this year as the supply of available homes for sale continued to improve. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported a 2.6 percent month-over-month rise in existing-home sales last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million. May sales were revised slightly upward to a rate of 4.91 million.

The National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), which measures contract signings as an indicator of future sales figures, jumped 6.1 percent month-over-month to 103.9. It was the largest one-month increase since April 2010, when the index spiked 9.6 percent as first-time buyers moved to sign purchase contracts to qualify for the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit.

Existing-home sales rose in May at their highest monthly growth rate in years as inventory continued to expand, the National Association of Realtors(NAR) reported. According to NAR, total existing-home sales—representing completed transactions of single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops—jumped 4.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million.