November 2016 Existing-Home Sales

NAR released a summary of existing-home sales data showing that housing market activity rose for the third straight month. November’s existing-home sales reached the 5.61 million seasonally adjusted annual rate and existing-home sales are up 15.4 percent from a year ago.
The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $234,900 in November, up 6.8 percent from a year ago.
Regionally, all four regions showed growth in prices from a year ago, with the South leading at 9.2 percent. The West had an increase of 8.5 percent, and the Midwest followed with a 6.5 percent increase. The Northeast had the smallest gain of 3.3 percent from November 2015.
From October, two of the four regions experienced inclines in sales with the Northeast having the biggest increase of 8.0 percent. The South followed with a gain of 1.4 percent. The West had a decline of 1.6 percent while the Midwest had the biggest decline of 2.2 percent.
All four regions showed a double digit increase in sales from a year ago with the West leading all regions with a 19.0 percent gain. The Midwest followed with an 18.8 percent gain. The Northeast had a gain of 15.7 percent and the South had the smallest increase of 11.6 percent. The South led all regions in percentage of national sales at 39.6 percent while the Northeast has the smallest share at 13.4 percent.
November’s inventory figures are down 8.0 percent from last month to 1.85 million homes for sale and the level remains below historical averages. Inventories are considerably down, 9.3 percent, from a year ago. It will take 4.0 months to move the current level of inventory at the current sales pace. It takes approximately 43 days for a home to go from listing to a contract in the current housing market, down from 54 days a year ago.
Single-family sales declined 0.4 percent while condos inclined 10.0 percent compared to last month. Single-family home sales inclined 16.2 percent and condo sales were also strong up 10.0 percent compared to a year ago. Both single-family and condos had an increase in price with single-family up 6.8 percent at $236,500 and condos up 5.8 percent at $222,600 from November 2015.