Home Sales Climb in Northeast Alone

According to the National Association of Realtors, home sales on existing homes increased in the Northeast by 2% at 27.7% annually.

The Northeast’s sustained month-to-month increase was due primarily to the exodus from densely populated areas into more suburban regions.

Overall, pending sales on a national basis were 20.5% higher than those in 2019.

The monthly trend line for September reflected a break in the generally upward trajectory of home prices for existing home sales.

Midwest pending sales fell by 3.2% on a monthly basis but reflected an 18.5% increase from September 2019.

Pending sales for the South decreased also by 3% on a monthly basis but also showed an annual increase of 19.6%.

Pending home sales in the West also fell by 2.6% on a month-to-month basis but registered a 19.3% increase from 2019.

Affordability, inventory shortages, and economic uncertainty most likely led to the break in the month-to-month momentum for existing home sales.

The low mortgage rates available to home buyers, especially first-time home buyers, were not low enough to trigger the decision to pay more for housing.

The question is in the coming months, will sellers be more likely to put their homes on the market in the aftermath of the pandemic?

There is a possibility that California may have more selling this coming spring of 2021 due to the number of baby boomers moving into retirement. The boomer segment will be looking for more economic-friendly neighborhoods, both tax-wise and cost of living wise, to move. Up until this point many of those Boomers have migrated to such states as Texas and Florida.

One effect of the very hot summer selling market is that inventory has been stripped down to under 3 months supply, which could possibly cause an affordability gap for those looking to buy for the first time or to find places to downsize to that are economically feasible.