The housing market slump deepened in November as sales of previously occupied US homes slowed for the 10th consecutive month – the longest such stretch on records going back to 1999.
Existing home sales fell 7.7 percent last month from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said. That was a slower sales pace than what economists had expected, according to FactSet.
Sales plunged 35.4 percent from November last year. Excluding the steep sales downturn that occurred in May 2020 at the start of the pandemic, sales are now at the slowest annual pace since November 2010, when the housing market was mired in the aftermath of the foreclosure crisis of the late 2000s.
November’s housing snapshot was the latest evidence of a deepening rut from what was a blistering sales pace at the start of the year when mortgage rates hovered near historic lows. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage was slightly above 3 percent in early January. Last week, it was at 6.31 percent, more than double the 3.12 percent average rate a year earlier, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac.
That increase can add hundreds of dollars to monthly mortgage payments and also can discourage homeowners who locked in a far lower rate during the last couple of years from buying a new home. Though they have declined in recent weeks, mortgage rates averaged 7.08 percent as recently as early November.
Mortgage rates are likely to remain a significant hurdle for some time as the Federal Reserve has consistently signaled its intent to keep raising short-term rates in a bid to squash the hottest inflation in decades.
The inventory of homes on the market declined for the fourth consecutive month. Some 1.14 million homes were on the market by the end of November. That amounts to a 3.3-month supply at the current sales pace. In a more balanced market between buyers and sellers, there is a five- to six-month supply.
The combination of higher mortgage rates and rising prices has continued to keep many first-time buyers on the sidelines. They represented 28 percent of sales last month, unchanged from October, the NAR said. By historical standards, first-time buyers typically made up as much as 40 percent or more of transactions.