Existing Home Sales Slow to Decade-Low Pace

By Helen Adams Realty - December 12, 2023

Canopy Realtor® Association Market Updates

Reprinted from November 2023 CRRA Monthly Indicators

Low inventory, elevated sales prices, and decades-high interest rates continue to weigh on the housing market, causing sales of existing homes to fall to their slowest pace since August 2010. According to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), U.S. existing-home sales declined 4.1% month-over-month and 14.6% year-over-year as of last measure as prospective buyers, faced with rising homeownership costs, wait for mortgage rates, and home prices, to drop.

New Listings were up in the Charlotte region by 3.5 percent to 3,484. Pending Sales increased 3.9 percent to 2,765. Inventory shrank 14.8 percent to 6,526.

Prices moved lower as Median Sales Price was down 0.8 percent to $379,900. Months Supply of Homes for Sale remained flat at 1.9 months, indicating a stabilizing supply-demand balance.

Inventory remains at historically low levels nationwide, with only 1.15 million homes for sale heading into November. This is a 5.7% decline compared to the same time last year, for a 3.6 months’ supply at the current sales pace. The shortage of available properties for sale has kept pressure on home prices, which have continued to climb despite the slowdown in sales. According to NAR, the U.S. median existing-home sales price increased 3.4% from a year ago to $391,800, an all-time high for the month, with annual price gains reported in all four regions of the country.

A Closer Look