Existing-home sales fell more than expected in February, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR)
- M-O-M: Total existing-home sales decreased 6.6% from January to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 6.22 million.
- Y-O-Y: Sales were up 9.1% when compared to the same time a year ago (5.70 million in February 2020).
Housing inventory continues to remain at historic lows. Total housing inventory in February was down 29.5% from one year ago. This continues to be a problem for buyers as they desperately look for something to buy. However, if you are a seller the world is your oyster.
If you did sell in February you were probably really happy with your listing price. The median existing-home price was up a whopping 15.8% to $313,000.
- WOW: This was the 108th straight month of year-over-year gains.
The big downside of rising home prices is it prices would-be homebuyers out of the market. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, argues the answer to this is simple; we need more houses. Yun said in a statement “Home affordability is weakening…Various stimulus packages are expected and they will indeed help, but an increase in inventory is the best way to address surging home costs.”
It’s interesting that almost every economist argues that the solution to rising home prices is to build more homes and yet every lawmaker seems absolutely perplexed as to what the solution is…