Existing home sales slump for eighth straight month in September

Vladimir Zakharov/iStock via Getty Images

September Existing Home Sales: -1.5% to 4.71M vs. 4.70M consensus and 4.78M prior (revised from 4.80M).

That's the eighth consecutive month of declines as two-decade high mortgage rates continue to weigh.

The median existing home sales price of $384.8K rose 8.4% from a year earlier.

“The housing sector continues to undergo an adjustment due to the continuous rise in interest rates, which eclipsed 6% for 30-year fixed mortgages in September and are now approaching 7%,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Expensive regions of the country are especially feeling the pinch and seeing larger declines in sales.”

Inventory of unsold existing homes came in at 1.25M units, down 2.3% from August and -0.8% from the year-ago period. That's equivalent to 3.2 months' supply at the current sales pace, unchanged from August but up from 2.4 months in September 2021.

“Despite weaker sales, multiple offers are still occurring with more than a quarter of homes selling above list price due to limited inventory,” Yun added. “The current lack of supply underscores the vast contrast with the previous major market downturn from 2008 to 2010, when inventory levels were four times higher than they are today.”

Previously, (Oct. 19) Redfin report shows home sales, listings fall most since height of Covid crisis.