U.S. Existing Home Sales & Prices Decline in December
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Sales fall for eleventh straight month.
- Declines continue in most of country.
- Prices at lowest level since February 2022.
Sales of existing homes declined 1.5% (-34.0% y/y) during December to 4.02 million units (SAAR) from 4.08 million in November, revised from 4.09 million. Sales stood at the lowest level since November 2010. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected December sales of 3.94 million units.
Sales of single-family homes fell 1.1% (-33.5% y/y) in December to 3.60 million units from 3.64 million in November. Sales have fallen in each month since January 2022. Condo and co-op sales weakened 4.5% (-38.2% y/y) in December following an 8.3% November fall.
The decline in total sales was most pronounced in the South where they fell 2.2% (-33.1% y/y) to 1.80 million units after falling 7.1% in November. Sales in the Northeast weakened 1.9% (-28.8% y/y) to 5.20 million after a 7.0% November decline. Sales in the Midwest were off 1.0% (-30.3% y/y) to 1.01 million following a 5.6% November drop. Sales in the Western region of the country held steady m/m (-43.4% y/y) at 6.90 million after a 13.8% decline in November.
The number of existing homes for sale (NSA) fell 13.4% (+10.2% y/y) in December following four straight monthly declines. The months' supply of homes on the market (NSA) declined to 2.9 months at the current selling rate, the lowest rate in six months but increased from a record low of 1.6 months reached in January of last year. These figures date back to January 1999.
The median price of an existing home (NSA) fell 1.5% (+2.3% y/y) to $366,900, down for the sixth straight month. They were 11.3% below the June peak of $413,800. Prices declined last month in all four regions of the country.
The data on existing home sales, prices and affordability are compiled by the National Association of Realtors. The data on single-family home sales extend back to February 1968. Total sales and price data and regional sales can be found in Haver's USECON database. Regional price and affordability data and national inventory data are available in the REALTOR database. The expectations figure is from the Action Economics Forecast Survey, reported in the AS1REPNA database.
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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