Existing-home sales fell for the tenth consecutive month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. That equates to a 7.7 percent decline from October and a 35.4 percent difference from November 2021.
“In essence, the residential real estate market was frozen in November, resembling the sales activity seen during the COVID-19 economic lockdowns in 2020,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “The principal factor was the rapid increase in mortgage rates, which hurt housing affordability and reduced incentives for homeowners to list their homes. Plus, available housing inventory remains near historic lows.”
The median existing-home price for all housing types in November was $370,700, up 3.5 percent from November 2021. This marks 129 consecutive months of year-over-year increases, the longest-running streak on record.
Total housing inventory registered at the end of November was 1.14 million units—down 6.6 percent from October, but up 2.7 percent from one year ago. Unsold inventory sits at a 3.3-month supply at the current sales pace, which was identical to October, but up from 2.1 months in November 2021.
Existing-home sales in the West fell 12.5 percent from October to an annual rate of 700,000 in November, down 45.7 percent from one year ago. The median price in the West was $569,800, a 2 percent increase from November 2021.
“The West region experienced the largest decline in home sales and the smallest increase in home prices compared to the other regions of the country,” Yun added.
Elsewhere, existing-home sales in the Northeast decreased 7 percent from October, down 28.4 percent from November 2021. The median price in the Northeast was $394,700, an increase of 3.5 percent from the prior year.
Existing-home sales in the Midwest fell 5.6 percent from the previous month, and down 30.6 percent from one year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $268,600, up 3.9 percent from November 2021.
In the South, existing-home sales were down 7.1 percent from October, and down 35 percent from the previous year. The median price in the South was $340,100, an increase of 4.4 percent from this time last year.