September Sales Fall Except in the Northeast

The number of homes sold during the month of September fell in three out of the four regional areas in the United States except for the Northeast, where they increased, according to Redfin.

The Redfin report stated that the supply of homes for sale continues to erode, creating greater demand with less supply. Even though mortgage rates continue to climb toward the 8% threshold, demand continues to outstrip supply. This is causing the escalation of home prices to rise, with the national median sale price based on the Redfin report reaching to $369,250, which is 2.5% higher than 2022.

The Redfin report points to three straight consecutive months where home prices have increased from 2022, impacting the cost of home ownership to rise by nearly $500 a month more than in 2022.

In addition, listings fell 14% from 2022 but are showing some slight increase over the last few months. With the higher interest rates and the overall inflation rate, it appears that the Fed is not likely to raise interest rates again in 2023, which finally is some good news.

New Jersey Stats
On a month-to-month basis, according to New Jersey Realtor the average sale price for a single-family home fell from nearly $693,000 in August 2023 to $660,000 in September 2023. Also new listings fell marginally in September 2023 to 6,000 as compared to nearly 6,500 in August 2023. New Jersey inventory of single-family homes also fell from August to September, 14,177 to 13,740.

Closed sales also fell from August to September from 5,269 to 5,007 respectively.