ShareNAR released a summary of existing-home sales data showing that housing market activity this August declined 2.5% from July 2024. August home sales reached a 3.86 million seasonally adjusted annual rate. August sales of existing homes declined 4.2% from August 2023.
The national median existing-home price for all housing types reached $416,700 in August, up 3.1% from a year ago. This is the second consecutive month that home prices have declined.
Regionally, all four regions showed price growth from a year ago in August. The Northeast had the largest gain, 7.7%, followed by the Midwest, which increased by 3.8%. The West had an increase of 2.2%, while the South region rose 1.6%.
August’s inventory of unsold listings as of the end of the month was up 0.7% from last month, standing at 1,350,000 homes for sale. Compared with August of 2023, inventory levels were up 22.7%. It will take 4.2 months to move the current inventory level at the current sales pace, well below the desired pace of 6 months.
It takes approximately 26 days for a home to go from listing to a contract in the current housing market. A year ago, it took 20 days.
Sales in July increased in two of the four regions from a year ago. The Northeast region rose 2.1%, followed by the West, which increased 1.4%. The Midwest had the largest decline, 5.2%, followed by the South, which fell 3.8%.
Compared to July 2024, three of the four regions grew in sales. The Northeast had the largest incline of 4.3%, followed by the West with a gain of 1.4%. The South region increased by 1.1%. The Midwest had no gain.
The South led all regions in percentage of national sales, accounting for 44.8% of the total, while the Northeast had the smallest share at 12.4%.
In August, single-family sales decreased 2.8%, and condominium sales were flat compared to last month. Single-family home sales were down 3.3%, while condominium sales fell 11.6% compared to a year ago. The median sales price of single-family homes rose 2.9% to $422,100 from August 2023, while the median sales price of condominiums increased 3.5% to $354,200.
