NEW YORK – Existing home sales increased 1.4% in October to a seasonally adjusted 4.97 million-unit rate, after a downwardly revised 4.90 million unit rate in September, the National Association of Realtors announced Monday.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted 4.80 million sales.
On a year-over-year basis, sales overall were up 13.5% from a 4.38 million unit sales pace last October.
“Home sales have been stuck in a narrow range despite several improving factors that generally lead to higher home sales such as job creation, rising rents and high affordability conditions,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “Many people who are attempting to buy homes are thwarted in the process.”
“A higher rate of contract failures has held back a sales recovery. Contract failures reported by NAR members jumped to 33 percent in October from 18 percent in September, and were only 8 percent a year ago, so we should be seeing stronger sales,” Yun said.
Sales rose in three of the four regions of the country in October, decreasing 5.1% in the Northeast to 750,000, climbing 2.8% to 1.10 million units in the Midwest; and jumping 2.1% in the South to 1.94 million. In the West sales grew 4.4% to 1.19 million units, NAR said.
Inventory levels sank 2.2% at the end of October, to 3.33 million existing homes for sale, representing an 8.0-month supply at the current sales pace, down from 8.3 months in last month’s report.
Meanwhile, the national median existing home price was $162,500 in October, off 4.7% from a year ago.
The national average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was a record low 4.07%, down from September’s 4.11%, NAR said. The rate was 4.23% in October 2010.
