Spring sales season is here, folks.
By wolf richter For wolf street,
According to the National Association of Realtors, the median price for homes of all types sold in February was $363,000, down 0.2% from February 2022. This was the first year-over-year decline since February 2012, when the market emerged from the housing bust 1 (being In housing bust 1, the first year-over-year decline occurred in August 2006).
The year-on-year decline came despite a slight increase in the average price from January. But that increase was much smaller than the increase from the year before, and so the price fell year-on-year (historical data YCharts,
The median price of single-family homes fell 0.7% year-over-year; But condo prices were still up 2.5% year-over-year.
Lower prices will help stabilize the market, and that’s starting to happen, if barely: “We’re seeing strong sales gains in areas where home prices are coming down and local economies are adding jobs,” reports Noted by the National Association of Realtors.
The average price has fallen 12.3% from the seasonal peak in June 2022 (historical data via YCharts).
Sales of pre-owned homes on the rise From the deep-dissolve 14.5% in January, which was the lowest sales since 2010 during the housing bust 1, a seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales of a still disappointing 4.58 million homes. The increase followed 12 months in a row of month-on-month declines.
Year-on-year, sales were down 22.6%. Sales were down 25.8% compared to February two years ago.
Priced right, almost any property will sell. But not enough sellers are yet to seek the true value of their properties.
Actual sales in January – not seasonally adjusted, and not as an annualized rate – rose 23% to 271,000 properties, down from a year earlier:
sales of single family homes, On a seasonally-adjusted annual rate, new homes rose 15.3% from January to 4.14 million homes, which was still down 21.4% year-over-year.
sales of condos and co-ops, On a seasonally-adjusted annual rate, shipments rose 7.3% from January to 440,000 units, down 32.3% year-over-year.
By region, year-on-year sales fell in all regions (Percentage change from year ago, map via NAR):
All cash buyers – often investors and second home buyers – increased from January’s approximately 67,000 properties (29% share of 231,000 actual sales) to approximately 76,000 properties (28% share of 271,000 actual sales).
average day on the market In 67 days before a property is sold or the seller removes the property from the market, was up 50% from a year ago (via Data) realtor.com,
month’s supplyAt 2.6 months, while still low by historical standards, was up 50% from a year earlier.
active listing (= total listed inventory minus properties with pending sales), at 578,000 properties, were up 68% from a year earlier. In absolute numbers, active listings remained low by historical standards, as potential sellers are still trying to avoid rising mortgage rates, and many potential buyers have pulled back (via Data) realtor.com,
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