Limited supply has been a major factor holding down sales with supply on the market falling 40,000 homes in the month to 2.31 million. Supply relative to sales, at 5.5 months, held unchanged reflecting August's sales dip.
Prices have been flat the last six months, down 0.8 percent in August to a median $219,800. Year-on-year, the median is little changed at plus 4.8 percent.
Looking at regional sales data, August's weakness was centered in the West, down 6.0 percent, followed by the largest housing region which is the South, down 4.2 percent. The Northeast, which is the smallest region, shows a 4.7 percent gain with the Midwest up 2.5 percent.
Held back by the soft jobs market and a shortage of first-time buyers, housing remains a lagging sector for the economy. A lack of distressed sales on the market, at a recovery low of 8 percent in August's sales data, is a hidden factor holding back sales. Markets are showing little reaction to today's report. Watch for new home sales on the Econoday calendar on Wednesday.
Recent History Of This Indicator
Existing home sales in July advanced 2.4 percent to an annualized pace of 5.15 million units. June rose a revised 2.4 percent to a marginally downwardly revised 5.03 million. July sales were down 4.3 percent on a year-ago basis. July's figure puts existing home sales back at the pace last seen in October 2013 before atypically adverse winter weather undercut sales. For the latest month, strength was in the single-family component which gained 2.7 percent to 4.55 million annualized. Condos were unchanged at 0.60 million. Supply on the market actually rose faster than sales-up 3.5 percent in July to 2.37 million units. Months' supply, however, was steady at 5.5 months.
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