Existing-home sales in September increased 3.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.47 million compared with 5.3 million in August, and are 0.6 percent above September 2015’s rate of 5.44 million, according to the National Association of Realtors.
This is the highest rate since a two-month slump started in July, said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun in a statement.
“The home search over the past several months for a lot of prospective buyers, and especially for first-time buyers, took longer than usual because of the competition for the minimal amount of homes for sale,” he said. “Most families and move-up buyers look to close before the new school year starts. Their diminishing presence from the market toward the end of summer created more opportunities for aspiring first-time homeowners to buy last month.”
The median existing-home price in September was 234,200, up 5.6 percent compared with September 2015’s price of 221,700.
Existing-home sales in the Northeast grew 5.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 740,000. In the Midwest, sales rose 3.9 percent to a rate of 1.32 million. Sales in the South saw a 0.9 percent increase to a rate of 2.19 million, and sales in the West increased 5 percent to a rate of 1.25 million.
