Existing home sales—a figure that includes single-family homes, condos, and co-ops—continued a now five-month streak of month-over-month gains in October, with sales up 4.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.85 million, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Overall, existing home sales rose by 26.6% from one year ago, up from 5.41 million in October 2019. The median existing home price for all housing types was $313,000, up 15.5% from October 2019. This marks 104 straight months of year-over-year price gains.
Single-family home sales rose by 26.7% YOY, and 4.1% from September to October, up to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.12 million. The median existing single-family home price was $317,700 in October, up 16% YOY.
“Considering that we remain in a period of stubbornly high unemployment relative to pre-pandemic levels, the housing sector has performed remarkably well this year,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “The surge in sales in recent months has now offset the spring market losses,” he says. “With news that a COVID-19 vaccine will soon be available, and with mortgage rates projected to hover around 3% in 2021, I expect the market’s growth to continue into 2021.” Yun anticipates that existing home sales will rise by 10% to 6 million in 2021.
Total housing inventory has declined 2.7% from September and 19.8% from October 2019, down to 1.42 million units. This represents an all-time low of 2.5 months of unsold housing inventory, down from 2.7 months in September and 3.9 months in October 2019.
Properties typically remained on the market for 21 days in October, seasonally even with September. Of the homes sold in October, 72% were on the market for less than a month.
“Faced with many uncertainties in 2020, the real estate industry has been able to meet surprisingly strong home buying demand and help lead our country’s economic recovery,” says NAR president Charlie Oppler, a Realtor from Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, and broker/owner of Prominent Properties Sotheby’s International Realty. “As we continue to help consumers secure housing and property, we will also remain vigilant in working to expand housing options, equality, and affordability for all who are entering the marketplace.”
All four major regions reported sales growth on a month-over-month and year-over-year basis. The Midwest saw the strongest month-to-month sales growth, with 8.6% growth from September to October, and a 16.7% increase from October 2019.
