Existing Home Sales - August ReportLast Updated: 8/29/2008
Home Sales Report Summary
Sales of existing homes in the USA went down by 2.04% last month, to 4.86 million homes. That's well below last May (2007), by -15.48%.
Sales Pace by Region - Month to Month and Year to Year
For month-to-month comparisons, sales were down everywhere except in the West, which was up by .98%. The sales pace for resale homes was down by -3.14% in the South, -3.45% in the Midwest, and -6.50% in the Northeast.
That is month-to-month. Year-to-year presents a different picture. Nationwide, we have already talked about the sales pace (it was down -15.48%). In the South, sales were slower by -18.14%, -17.65% in the Midwest, -15.84% in the Northeast, and only down -6.36% in the West.
July sales pace figures released at the very end of August.
This measure tracks units - condominiums, co-ops, and single family home. What "sales pace" means is that the National Association of Realtors calculates how many homes were sold, makes adjustments for seasonal factors like weather, school, vacations, then calculates how many homes would sell in a year at that given pace. When we use raw data, we try to state that clearly.
Price Appreciation
Nationally, the median average sales price fell compared to last year, down by -6.07%, with the new median average sales price of a home was $215,000. The Midwest showed an actual increase of value, by 2.82%, followed by declines in all other regions: South by -2.37%, Northeast by -12.63% and the West by -17.22%.
Median Average
The median average is the "midpoint" sales price. Half the homes sold above that price and half below.
Inventory Rises
It would take 11.1 months to sell all the existing homes currently available on the market at the current sales pace, and there are more homes on the market than last month. There are 4.490 million homes listed for sale. We're selling less than five million a year.
We measure inventory in two ways. "How many homes are available for sale?" and "How many months would it take to sell the total number of homes available for sale right now, at the current sales pace?" When the sales pace declines, inventory measured in months will increase, even if the same number of homes is for sale.
Next Report
All figures in this report are for June 2008 closings. July 2008 data released at the very end of August.
Month-to-Month Appreciation Graphs, regional and nationwide - click here.
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