The National
Association of Realtors (NAR) announced on Wednesday that the U.S. existing
home sales fell by 1.0 per cent m-o-m to a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.84 million
in September from an upwardly revised 3.88 million (from 3.86 million) in August.
Economists had forecast
home re-sales decelerating to a 3.84 million-unit pace last month.
In y-o-y terms,
existing-home sales dropped 3.5 per cent in September.
According to
the report, three out of four major
regions - the Northeast (-4.2 per cent m-o-m), Midwest (-2.2 per cent
m-o-m) and South (-1.7 per cent m-o-m) - recorded decreases in existing-home sales on
a m-o-m basis, while
the West (+4.1 per cent m-o-m) posted a gain.
In y-o-y terms, existing-home sales fell in the
Northeast (-6.1 per cent), South (-5.5 per cent) and Midwest (-5.3 per cent) but
rose in the West (+5.6 per cent m-o-m).
Over the
reviewed period, the median existing-home price for all housing types jumped 3.0
per cent y-o-y to $404,500, reflecting increases in prices in all four U.S.
regions. This was the 15th straight month of year-over-year advances in median
existing-home price.
Single-family
home sales came in at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 3.47 million in September,
down 0.6 per cent m-o-m and 2.3 per cent y-o-y. Meanwhile, existing condominium and co-op sales were registered
at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 370,000 units in September, down 5.1 per cent m-o-m and 14.0 per
cent y-o-y.
Commenting on
the latest data, Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, noted that home sales had
been essentially stuck at around a four-million-unit pace for the past 12
months but the factors usually associated with higher home sales were developing. “There
are more inventory choices for consumers, lower mortgage rates than a year ago
and continued job additions to the economy,” he added and suggested that some
consumers might be hesitating about moving forward with a major expenditure
like purchasing a home before the upcoming election.