It’s been a year since the annual rate of existing home sales was as low as it was last month. Hurricane-affected areas are expected to weaken next year.
The sale of 535,000 existing U.S. single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-operatives was completed during
August 2017.
That brought the number of pre-owned residential property sales from Jan. 1 through the end of August of this year to 3.739 million transactions.
The National Association of Realtors reported the data Wednesday.
Applying seasonal adjustments, the annual rate of existing home sales came to 5.35 million — the slowest month since the same month last year, when it was 5.34 million.
The annual rate retreated 2 percent from the preceding month. The rate has diminished each month since May, when it was 5.62 million.
“What’s ailing the housing market and continues to weigh on overall sales is the inadequate levels of available inventory and the upward pressure it’s putting on prices in several parts of the country,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a written statement. “Sales have been unable to break out because there are simply not enough homes for sale.”
The rate was 0.72 million in
the Northeast increasing from July by 11 percent — more than any other region. A 2 percent gain in the Midwest left the rate there at 1.28 million.
A 5 percent drop from a month earlier left the West’s annual rate at 1.20 million, and the South was down the most at 6 percent to 2.15 million.
“Some of the South Region’s decline in closings can be attributed to the devastation Hurricane Harvey caused to the greater Houston area,” Yun explained.
“Sales will be impacted the rest of the year in Houston, as well as in the most severely affected areas in Florida from Hurricane Irma. However, nearly all of the lost activity will likely show up in 2018.”
The U.S. inventory of homes for sale concluded last month at 1.88 million. That worked out to a 4.2-month supply.
August 2017’s median sales price was $253,500, and the average price was $294,600.
