Home Sales Pace

Sales of existing U.S. homes rose in September, according to the National Association of Realtors, by 5.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.18 million units, up from 4.91 million units in August. That sales pace was also up 1.4 percent from September 2007 figures. Median home prices, however, fell by 9.0 percent to $191,600 during the same period, from $210,500 last year.

The NAR defines existing homes as all previously-owned single-family homes, townhouses, condominiums, and co-ops. The group "seasonally adjusts" the sales numbers to factor in things like inclement weather, school sessions, winter holidays, etc to smooth out the trends. The NAR also describes its sales data based on an annual pace. The monthly figure represents the total number of housing units that would be sold in one year if the current rate were to continue unchanged.

Sales Pace by Region

September's sales jump was led by an enormous increase in the Western sales pace. The West experienced a 16.8 percent rise to an annual rate of 1.25 million units compared with 1.07 million in August. That also puts sales up 34.4 percent on an annual basis.

The Midwest and South saw only minor growth in comparison with the West, while the Northeast saw a decrease in sales in September.

Sales in the Midwest rose to 1.19 million units, 4.4 percent higher than the 1.14 million housing transactions in August.

The South had 1.9 million sales in September, an increase of 2.2 percent from 1.86 million the previous month.

Finally, in the Northeast, sales of existing homes dropped 1.2 percent to 840,000 units, from 850,000 units in August.

Home Prices

The median price in the Northeast dropped to $246,800 from $271,000 in August. The price has declined 5.4 percent in the last year.

The median price in the Midwest fell to $152,500 from $168,000 the month before and decreased by 7.9 percent since September 2007.

In the South, the median home price was down to $167,200 from $176,500 the previous month and 4.1 percent from one year earlier.

The median price in the West rose to $253,600 in September, up from $253,600, but the current price is still 18.5 percent below the going rate at the same time last year.

Inventory

The number of existing homes for sale in the U.S. continued to shrink in September, contracting to 4.27 million units, a decrease of 1.6 percent from August. The supply of homes available at the end of September represents a 9.9 month stock at the current sales pace; the August pace reflected a 10.6 month supply.

Next Report

Data for October existing home sales, prices, and inventory will be available at the end of November.