Sales of existing homes drop 8th straight month in Sept, prices down $29k from June peak to $384,800

A few key takeaways from NAR September existing home sales report showing 4.71 million annualized:

– Existing home sales now down 8 straight months

– While median existing home prices of $384,800 are up 8.4% from September 2021 ($355,100), prices are down 7% from June 2022’s record high of $413,800

– This should provide relief for buyers contenting with the 2022 rate spike, which now puts 30 year fixed rates around 7%

– Even as total sales and prices ease, 70% of existing homes sold in less than a month this September — that’s fast for a supposedly depressed market

– First time homebuyers are still about a third of the market, accounting for 29% of the existing homes sold in September, down from 34% in late 2021 when rates were closer to 3% — some resilience here given severity of rate spike

– Existing home sales account for about 88% of homes sales right now with the rest being sales of new homes, which will report for September next Wednesday, and may also show 8 straight months of declines

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