US Existing-Home Sales Post Largest Monthly Increase in Nearly Three Years

On Friday, Redfin reported that according to its data, existing-home sales in October rose 1.6% month-over-month—the largest gain since January 2022—to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4,179,346.

Year-over-year, sales were 1.7% higher—the first annual increase since November 2021—and they are on track to finish the year slightly higher than they finished last year, which was at 4,093,102.

Overall home sales, which include sales of both existing and newly built homes, also posted a notable increase. They rose 1.6% month-over-month and 3.4% year-over-year to the highest level in over a year and a half on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The median home sale price increased 5.2% year-over-year to $435,313 in October, which Redfin says is the biggest annual gain in six months.

The typical home that sold in October spent 41 days on the market, Redfin reported. That’s one week longer than a year earlier and is the longest of any October since 2019. Just over one-third (35%) of homes that sold last month went under contract within two weeks, down from 40.4% a year earlier and the lowest October share since 2019.

On the downside, Redfin says some homebuyers did get cold feet as economic uncertainty and election jitters gripped the country; roughly 53,000 home purchases were canceled in October, equal to 15.5% of homes that went under contract last month. That’s the highest percentage in nearly a year.