By Vincent Salandro | Builder
Total existing-home sales, which includes the sales of single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops, decreased 1.5% from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.71 million in September, the eighth consecutive month of declines, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). On a year-over-year basis, existing-home sales fell 23.8% from an annual rate of 6.18 million in September 2021.
“The housing sector continues to undergo an adjustment due to the continuous rise in interest rates, which eclipsed 6% for 30-year fixed mortgages in September and are now approaching 7%,” says NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. “Expensive regions of the country are especially feeling the pinch and seeing larger declines in sales.”
According to Freddie Mac, the average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage was 6.11% in September, up from 5.22% in August. The average commitment rate across all of 2021 was 2.96%.
Total housing inventory at the end of September was 1.25 million units, down 2.3% from August and down 0.8% from September 2021. Unsold inventory sits at a 3.2-month supply at the current sales pace, level with August and up 0.8 months from 12 months ago.
