Second home sales in U.S. have been falling for 10 months
2022.12.21 12:46
Second home sales in U.S. have been falling for 10 months
Budrigannews.com – U.S. existing home deals drooped to a/long term low in November as the real estate market kept on being just barely gotten by higher home loan rates.
The National Association of Realtors reported on Wednesday that existing home sales fell 7.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million units last month, the lowest level since May 2020. This was the lowest level since November 2010, excluding the plunge that occurred during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020.
Sales have been declining for ten months in a row, the longest streak since 1999. In November, they fell in all four regions. Financial experts surveyed by Reuters had gauge home deals would drop to a pace of 4.20 million units.
In November, resales of homes, which make up a significant portion of home sales in the United States, decreased by 35.4% year-over-year.
Housing has been most affected by the fastest interest rate hike cycle since the 1980s by the Federal Reserve. By lowering demand for everything from housing to labor, the U.S. central bank is attempting to slow an inflation rate that is too high for the country.
This week, reports showed that single-family homebuilding and permits fell to their lowest levels in two and a half years in November, while confidence among homebuilders fell for a record 12-month stretch in December.
According to data from the mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac (OTC:), the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to above 7% a few months ago, which marked the highest rate since 2002. Even though the rate has fallen back to 6.31 percent this week, it is still double what it was at that point a year ago.
As Americans sought larger homes to accommodate home offices, the housing market boomed early in the pandemic, driving up prices beyond many people’s reach. Even though there is less demand, there is still a limited supply, which keeps home prices high even though the rate of increases is slowing.
In November, the median price of an existing home increased by 3.5 percent from a year earlier to $370,700. It was still the highest November house price ever, and prices are still about 37% higher than they were before the pandemic.
1.14 million previously owned homes were on the market, an increase of 2.7% from a year earlier. It would take 3.3 months to sell all of the homes on the market at the pace of November, up from 2.1 months a year ago. A healthy equilibrium between supply and demand is thought to exist between a four- and seven-month supply.
According to NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, “the residential real estate market was frozen in essence in November, resembling the sales activity seen during the COVID-19 economic lockdowns in 2020.”
Last month, properties averaged 24 days on the market, up from 21 days in October. In November, 61 percent of sold homes had been on the market for less than a month.
More U.S. consumer confidence rose in December
28% of sales were made by first-time buyers, up from 26% a year earlier. 26% of transactions were made in cash, up from 24% a year ago.
