Existing-home inventory up 14% from a year ago

After falling slightly in August, existing home sales were back on the rise in September, according to data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Month-over-month, the paces of existing home sales rose 1.5% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 4.06 million. This represents a 4.1% annual increase.

“As anticipated, falling mortgage rates are lifting home sales,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in a statement. “Improving housing affordability is also contributing to the increase in sales.”

The inventory of unsold existing homes also rose in September, jumping 1.3% on a monthly basis and 14.0% on a yearly basis to 1.55 million units. This represents a 4.6 month supply of unsold inventory at the current sales pace, the same as a month prior, but up from 4.2 months in September 2024.

“Inventory is matching a five-year high, though it remains below pre-COVID levels,” Yun added. “Many homeowners are financially comfortable, resulting in very few distressed properties and forced sales.”

The median sales price also rose in September, jumping 2.1% annually to $415,000, marking the 27th consecutive month of annual price increases.

“Prices declined seasonally but are still rising year-over-year. The pace of home price growth has been slowing as inventory has been building up,” Lisa Sturtevant, the chief economist at Bright MLS, said in a statement. “More inventory and softer price growth — or even price declines in some markets — are giving buyers more options, but affordability is still a challenge.”

Regionally, the pace of existing home sales rose month-over-month in the Northeast (490,000 homes), the South (1.86 million homes), and the West (770,000 homes), with the West posting the largest increase at 5.5%. Meanwhile the Midwest posted a 2.1% monthly decrease falling to a sales pace of 940,000 homes in September. On an annual basis, existing home sales rose in the Northeast (4.3%0, Midwest (2.2%) and South (6.9%), but remained flat in the West.