Existing Home Sales Climb In October, But All-Cash Buyers Drop
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) existing-home sales ticked up 1.9% October 2019 vs. September 2019.
The Midwest and the South regions grew, but the Northeast and the West both reported a drop in sales.
The Stats: All US Housing Types
Sales: October saw a 1.9% increase in sales year to date over September’s final numbers.
Why this stat is a bit confusing: The National Association of Realtors calculates a running tally of homes sold throughout the year and projects the current months final numbers, while finalizing the previous months numbers.
So, October 2019 saw 5,460,000 homes sold annually to date vs. 5,360,000 adjusted September 2019, a 1.9% increase. According to a Reuters poll of economists, existing home sales were only projected to rise 1.4%.
Median Existing Home Price: $270,900
Year Over Year Change: +6.2% Vs. October 2018 ($255,100) when prices were still rising across all four US regions
Note: October’s price increase marks 92 straight months of year-over-year gains
Inventory: 1.77 million units on the market - down about 2.7% from September 2019 and 4.3% from October 2018 (1.85 million homes) at the time.
Days On Market : 36 days in October - up about 10% from 32 days in September 2019, and on par with October 2018.
46% of homes sold in October 2019 were on the market for less than a month.
Who’s Buying?
First-Time Home Buyers
First time home buyers accounted for 31% of sales in October were to first time home buyers - Down 2% from September but spot on to October 2018.
Second Time Home Buyers
Second time home buyers accounted for 14% of homes sold in October 2019. No Change vs. September 2019, but down slightly (1%) from October 2018.
Foreclosures and Short Sales
Buyers of foreclosures and short sales made up 2% of October’s number. Unchanged from September 2019, but down from 3% in October 2018.
Cash Buyers Decline
All-cash sales drop to 19% of all transactions in October which is down from 23% in October 2018.
That’s a big drop, and possibly indicative of a market priming itself for extensively low interest rates in the months to come.