With supply shortages being blamed, the annual rate of existing home sales declined last month. The Northeast was out front of the drop.
Homebuyers completed the purchase of 315,000 existing
single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-operatives in February.
The sale of pre-owned residential properties slipped from
the previous month, when a downwardly revised 319,000 home sales closed.
But existing home sales inched up from 314,000 in the same month last year.
Historical data from the National Association of Realtors, which reported last month’s figures on Wednesday, indicate that there have been
634,000 existing home sales completed this year.
When seasonal factors are applied to the numbers, the annual rate of existing home sales was 5.48 million, retreating from 5.69 million in January but stronger than the upwardly revised 5.20 million in February 2016.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun explained in a statement that the month-over-month drop was partly the result of
“too few properties for sale.”
While Yun’s comment seems to contradict NAR’s data that indicate February’s 1.75 million inventory of homes for sale and 3.8-month supply were both the greatest since November 2016, he clarified that it was low supply in the affordable price range.
Lawrence also blamed “weakening affordability conditions” for the weakening.
The month-over-month decline was led by the Northeast, where the seasonally adjusted annual rate tumbled 14 percent to 0.69 million. Sales were down 3 percent in the West to a 1.25 million rate, and the Midwest saw a 7 percent decline to a 1.20 million rate.
But existing
home sales in the South ascended a percent from January to a 2.34 million rate.
The seasonally adjusted U.S. single-family annual rate was 4.89 million last month.
Average time on the market fell to 45 days from 50 days in January and plunged from 59 days in February 2016.
The median U.S. sales price was
$228,400 in the most-recent month, up 7.7 percent from a year earlier, “the fastest since last January (8.1 percent) and marks the 60th consecutive month of year-over-year gains.”
The average price was $270,010.
All-cash share was 27 percent in the most-recent month, while first-time buyer share was 32 percent,
and distressed sales share was 7 percent.
