Existing home sales from the National Association of Realtors via the St. Louis Fed

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports Existing-Home Sales Receded 1.5% in December

Key Highlights

• Existing-home sales faded for the eleventh straight month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.02 million. Sales waned 1.5% from November and 34.0% from one year ago.
• The median existing-home price for all housing types in December was $366,900, an increase of 2.3% from December 2021 ($358,800), as prices rose in all regions. This marks 130 consecutive months of year-over-year increases, the longest-running streak on record.
• Existing-home sales totaled 5.03 million in 2022, down 17.8% from 2021, as last year’s rapidly escalating interest rate environment weighed on the residential real estate market.
• Total housing inventory registered at the end of December was 970,000 units, which was down 13.4% from November but up 10.2% from one year ago (880,000). Unsold inventory sits at a 2.9-month supply at the current sales pace, down from 3.3 months in November but up from 1.7 months in December 2021.
• First-time buyers were responsible for 31% of sales in December, up from 28% in November and 30% in December 2021. NAR’s 2022 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers – released in November 20224 – found that the annual share of first-time buyers was 26%, the lowest since NAR began tracking the data.

Existing Home Sales Supply

Supply fell because sellers could not get the price they wanted and pulled houses from the market.

Existing-Home Sales Month-Over-Month

Track Record

• It's been a perfect record since January, the last time to buy before mortgage rates soared.
• After mild declines in August and September transactions resumed their crash in October and November.
• Sales are down 34 percent from a year ago and 38 percent since January. 

Housing Starts and Permits Down Again 

Yesterday, I noted Housing Starts and Permits Down Again in December Closing Out a Dismal Year

On January 18, I noted December Was Another Retail Sales Disaster, Even Worse With Negative Revisions

Also note Signs Say Industrial Production Has Peaked and so a Recession is Imminent

The economy is fine but housing, industrial production, and retail sales are struggling.

OK believe what you want.

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