The National Association of Realtors (NAR) pointed out that with the fall of December the longest losing streak since 1999 materializes
For eleven months, counting December, sales of existing homes fell consecutively. The last month of 2022 meant a 1.5% decrease in existing home sales to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.02 million, according to what was released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
The 11th consecutive monthly decline in existing home sales makes it the longest losing streak since the Association began tracking sales in 1999, according to the NAR’s record.
Existing home sales fell mainly across the country, led by the South, which saw a 2.2% drop. Sales were unchanged in the West.
Home sales fell 34%, compared to December 2021.
The level of sales activity was the lowest since November 2010, amid the US foreclosure crisis.
As for the total sales of existing homes in 2022, they fell by 17.8% compared to the previous year. Last year, 5.03 million existing homes were sold, the lowest level since 2014.
Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal expected existing home sales to fall to 3.95 million.
The last time existing home sales fell by this magnitude was in 2008.
Due to high mortgage rates, the real estate market has slowed down considerably, but prices have not. Although the median price of an existing home in the US has decreased in recent months, the difference is not very large, going from $370,700 in November to $366,900 in December.
Because it’s not as attractive to sell anymore, the number of homes on the market fell 13.4% to 970,000 units in December.
“We really need to start addressing this supply issue,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors.
Likewise, houses for sale remain for a longer period of time. Homes were on the market for 26 days on average, up from 24 days in November. We are approaching periods before the pandemic, when the average time homes were on the market was one month.
The good news is that mortgage rates have also moved lower, which has motivated the return of buyers. A small drop in rates led to a 28% increase in demand for mortgages earlier this week.
Experts expect that, if this trend of lower mortgage rates continues, sales will recover in the coming months and break the losing streak of 11 months.