According to the National Association of Manufacturers’ (NAM) Monday Economic Report for this week, existing home sales rose 7.0% from 5.88 million units in August at the annual rate to 6.29 million units in September. Overall, existing home sales have drifted lower since peaking at 6.73 million units in October 2020. Inventories of existing homes remain historically low, dropping from 2.6 months in August to 2.4 months in September. Meanwhile, the median sales price for existing homes has jumped 13.3% year-over-year, to $352,800.

New residential construction activity at an annual rate declined slightly from 1.59 million units in August to 1.56 million units in September. New housing starts have averaged 1.58 million through the first three quarters of 2021. Housing construction has faced challenges from rising construction costs, affordability issues and difficulties in finding workers. Single-family housing starts were flat in September, but multifamily construction activity decreased from 500,000 units to 475,000 units.