Existing Home Sales Fall
Sales of existing homes fell to their lowest level in 13 years in September, according to (subscription).
Whats going on: Existing home sales fell 2.0% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.96 million units, the lowest level since October 2010, the National Association of Realtors said on Thursday. They are counted at the closing of a contract, and last months sales likely reflected contracts signed in August, when the rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage vaulted above 7%.
- Sales fell 1.1% in the South, 4.1% in the Midwest and 5.3% in the West. They rose 4.2% in the Northeast.
Anemic inventory: There was 3.4 months worth of unsold existing home inventory for sale in September, a decline of more than 8% from a year ago.
- A four-to-seven-month supply is viewed as a healthy balance between supply and demand.
Why its happening: Mortgage rates have spiked recently, mostly because of expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer in response to the economys resilience.
