According to the National Association of Manufacturers’ (NAM) Monday Economic Report for this week, existing home sales fell 2.0% from 4.04 million units at the annual rate in August to 3.96 million units in September, the lowest since October 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors. With higher mortgage rates, homeowners are less willing to sell their existing homes, which limits inventories of existing homes for sale. On a YoY basis, existing home sales have decreased 15.4% from 4.68 million units in September 2022.  

There were 3.4 months of unsold inventory of existing homes for sale on the market in September, inching up from 3.3 months in August. The median sales price was $394,300 in September, up 2.8% from one year ago.  

Homebuilder sentiment declined in October according to the National Association of Home Builders. The Housing Market Index fell from 44 in September to 40 in October, the lowest reading since January. Builders continue to feel pessimistic in their assessments of the sector, reversing progress made in the spring and summer months.  

In October, the index of current activity for single-family homes declined from 50 to 46, and the index for expected single-family sales slipped from 49 to 44. At the same time, the traffic of potential buyers dropped from 30 to 26 and has been below 50 in every month since May 2022.