Business is booming.

US existing-home sales plummet in October

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The median price of an existing home was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis to $391,800, the NAR said, marking the fourth month in a row that prices have increased compared with a year prior.

The Northeast, South, and West all recorded existing-homes sales declines, according to the NAR, although sales were unchanged in the Midwest.

Economist weighs in on latest figures

Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist, said a lack of supply and higher mortgages rates were the chief factors behind plummeting sales activity, with the 30-year mortgage seeing a weekly average rate of 7.79% in October.

“Prospective homebuyers experienced another difficult month due to the persistent lack of housing inventory and the highest mortgage rates in a generation,” Yun said. “Multiple offers, however, are still occurring, especially on starter and mid-priced homes, even as price concessions are happening in the upper end of the market.”

First-time homebuyers continue to account for a significant portion of sales, with 28% of existing-home purchases made by new buyers in October, the NAR said. Individual investors or second-home buyers bought 15% of homes last month, a drop from 18% the month prior.



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