Existing-home sales rose 7.0% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.29 million, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Sales fell year-over-year, down 2.3% from September 2020. First-time buyers were responsible for 28% of sales in September, down from 29% in August and 31% in September 2020.
Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, states that “First-time buyers are hit particularly hard by the historically high home prices as they largely do not have the savings required to buy a home or equity to offset such a purchase.”
The total housing inventory in September was 1.27 million units, down 0.8% from August’s inventory and down 13.0% from one year ago (1.46 million). The median home price was $352,800, up 13.3% from September 2020 ($311,500), as prices rose in every region. This marks 115 straight months of year-over-year gains.
Distressed sales represented less than 1% of sales in September, equal to the previous month’s percentage and equal to September 2020.
Read the NAR release.
