NAR released a summary of existing home sales data showing November housing market activity increased 0.8% from October 2023. Existing home sales reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.8 million units in November. Existing home sales in November decreased by 7.3% from November 2022.
The median existing home price for all housing types nationwide reached $387,600 in November, an increase of 4.0% from a year earlier.
By region, all four regions saw price increases in November compared to the same month last year. The West had the largest increase at 5.3%, followed by the Midwest at 4.9%. Prices rose 4.8% in the Northeast and 3.4% in the South.
As of the end of November, the inventory of unsold properties decreased by 1.7% from the previous month, and the number of sold units was 1.13 million units. Compared to November 2022, inventory levels increased by 0.9%. At the current sales pace, it will take 2.8 months to reach current inventory levels, well below the targeted six-month pace. Inventory availability continues to be a challenge for potential homebuyers.
In today's housing market, it takes approximately 25 days from the time a home is listed to the time it goes under contract. A year ago it took 24 days.
Sales in November decreased compared to the same month last year in all four regions. The Northeast saw the biggest drop of 13.0%, followed by the Midwest with an 8.7% decline. The western region saw a decline of 8.6%, followed by the southern region with a 4.3% decline.
Compared to October 2023, sales increased in two out of four regions. The South had the largest increase of 4.7%, followed by the Midwest with a 1.1% increase. The West region had the largest decline in sales at 7.2%, followed by the Northeast region with the smallest drop of 2.1%.
In terms of percentage of national sales, the South ranked first among all regions, accounting for 46.3% of the total, while the Northeast had the smallest share at 12.3%.
Single-family home sales in November decreased by 0.9%, and condominium sales were flat from the previous month. Sales of single-family homes were down 7.3% year-on-year, and sales of condominiums were down 6.8%. The median sales price for single-family homes increased 3.5% from November 2022 to $392,100, while the median sales price for condominiums increased 8.6% to $350,100.
