For the 3rd month in a row, sales of previously owned homes are flat year-over-year. Month-over-month saw a better than expected 3.2% rise in September (ahead of the school year) but SAAR sales remain noisily stuck 25% below 2005's highs. Notably, this is the 55th straight month of year-over-year home price gains.
Going nowehere fast...
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Prices continue to rise at more than double the pace of wages: The median existing-home price 2 for all housing types in September was $234,200, up 5.6 percent from September 2015 ($221,700). September's price increase marks the 55th consecutive month of year-over-year gains.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says the two-month slump in existing sales reversed course convincingly in September.
"The home search over the past several months for a lot of prospective buyers, and especially for first-time buyers, took longer than usual because of the competition for the minimal amount of homes for sale," he said.
"Most families and move-up buyers look to close before the new school year starts. Their diminishing presence from the market towards the end of summer created more opportunities for aspiring first-time homeowners to buy last month."
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