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Existing-home sales continue rise in August, reach highest level since 2006
Existing-home sales continued to rise in August, reaching a seasonally-adjusted rate of six million units and marking its highest level on record since December 2006. This represents a 10.5 percent increase in sales versus a year ago.
"Record-low mortgage rates have brought even more buyers into the market as mortgage applications rise to their highest level in a decade, including the most refinances since 2012," wrote NAFCU Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long in a new Macro Data Flash report. "The headwinds are strengthening, though, with housing inventory at an all-time low even as homebuilders have ramped up construction."
"Sales of homes below $250,000 are down sharply from a year ago while sales of homes over $1 million are up by 44 percent. NAFCU expects home sales growth through the end of the year to be fairly flat as we wait for new construction to come online," Long added.
Sales rose in all four regions during the month, most significantly in the Northeast (+13.8 percent), followed by the Midwest (+1.4 percent), the West (+0.8 percent), and the South (+0.8 percent).
Based on current sales levels, there was three months of supply at the end of August, down 0.1 months from July. Analysts consider six months of supply to be roughly balanced between supply and demand.
The median existing-home price rose sharply from $305,500 in July to $310,600 in August (not seasonally adjusted), representing an 11.4 percent increase from the median price a year ago.