Existing Home Sales: 2nd Month of Rebounds; Trend Still Mixed

November 21, 2017
Bottom Line: Existing home sales rose for the second straight month after a quarter of declines. The report noted a continued rebound in sales in Texas and Florida and suggested it will take a few more months to full bounce back to pre-storm levels. Home re-sales have averaged 5.40 million over the past 3 months versus 5.46 million over the past 6 months, suggesting there has been modest deceleration. Inventories fell sharply and are now 10+% below last year's levels, declining on a year-over-year basis for the 29th straight month. Price gains remained around the 5.5% year-on-year rate. Existing Home Sales ROSE by 2.0% in October to 5.48 million, compared with market expectations for an increase to 5.40 million. The prior month was revised down from 5.39 to 5.37 million. Home re-sales are now 0.9% BELOW their year ago level and are 24.4% BELOW their September 2005 record high.
  • 42.1% of single family homes sold were priced in between 100k to 250k and 33.8% of single family homes sold were priced in between 250k to 500k.
  • Single family home sales are up 1.2% year-over-year for prices in between 100k to 250k and are up 11.5% for prices in between 250k to 500k.
The Inventory of Homes Available for Sale FELL by 3.2% to 1,800k and are now 10.4% BELOW their year ago level. Because inventories declined while sales increased, the Months Supply FELL to 3.9 months from 4.2 months. This is still well BELOW its July 2010 cyclical peak of 12.4 (which was its highest level since 1982) and even BELOW the 6 month level that is considered 'normal'. Home Prices ROSE compared to their year ago levels. Average home prices are 4.7% ABOVE their year ago levels while median home prices are 5.5% ABOVE their year ago levels.