WASHINGTON – Existing-home sales dipped in February, continuing a seesawing pattern of gains and declines over the last few months, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Total existing-home sales,1 https://www.nar.realtor/existing-home-sales, completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, sank 7.2% from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.02 million in February.
“Housing affordability continues to be a major challenge, as buyers are getting a double whammy: rising mortgage rates and sustained price increases,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.
Total housing inventory2 at the end of February totaled 870,000 units, up 2.4% from January and down 15.5% from one year ago .
The median existing-home price3 for all housing types in February was $357,300, up 15.0% from February 2021 , as prices grew in each region.
First-time buyers were responsible for 29% of sales in February, up from 27% in January and down from 31% in February 2021.
Individual investors or second-home buyers, who make up many cash sales, purchased 19% of homes in February, down from 22% in January but up from 17% in February 2021.
Single-family home sales dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.35 million in February, down 7.0% from 5.75 million in January and down 2.2% from one year ago.
Existing condominium and co-op sales were recorded at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 670,000 units in February, down 9.5% from 740,000 in January and down 4.3% from one year ago.
Existing-home sales in the Northeast slipped 11.5% in February, registering an annual rate of 690,000, a 12.7% drop from February 2021.
Existing-home sales in the Midwest sagged 11.3% from the prior month to an annual rate of 1,330,000 in February, a 1.5% decrease from February 2021.
Existing-home sales in the South fell 5.1% in February from the prior month, posting an annual rate of 2,790,000, an increase of 3.0% from one year ago.
Existing-home sales in the West slid 4.7% from the previous month, reporting an annual rate of 1,210,000 in February, down 8.3% from one year ago.
For local information, please contact the local association of Realtors® for data from local multiple listing services .
NAR benchmarks home sales periodically using other sources to assess overall home sales trends, including sales not reported by MLSs.
In addition, existing-home sales, which account for more than 90% of total home sales, are based on a much larger data sample – about 40% of multiple listing service data each month – and typically are not subject to large prior-month revisions.
The annual rate for a particular month represents what the total number of actual sales for a year would be if the relative pace for that month were maintained for 12 consecutive months.
Single-family data collection began monthly in 1968, while condo data collection began quarterly in 1981; the series were combined in 1999 when monthly collection of condo data began.
3 The median price is where half sold for more and half sold for less; medians are more typical of market conditions than average prices, which are skewed higher by a relatively small share of upper-end transactions.
The national median condo/co-op price often is higher than the median single-family home price because condos are concentrated in higher-cost housing markets.
Investors are under-represented in the annual study because survey questionnaires are mailed to the addresses of the property purchased and generally are not returned by absentee owners.