The pace of U.S. previously owned homes rose 3.1% in July to an annual rate of 5 million homes as the median price fell $16,200 (7%) on a year-over-year basis, but remains 13% below the pace of 2007.

The increase in sales wasn’t enough to keep up with the surge in properties coming into the market as foreclosures mount. There were a record 4.67 million unsold houses and condos on the market in July, representing 11.2 month’s supply at the current sales pace, matching the highest ever. The [National Association of Realtors] has said a five to six months’ supply is consistent with a stable market.

The jump in inventory was driven by an increase in the supply of condos as projects started one or two years ago came on the market, the Realtors group said.

U.S. Economy: Existing Home Sales Increased 3.1 Percent in July [Bloomberg]

6 thoughts on “Pace Of U.S. Existing Home Sales Up (MOM) But Still Off (YOY)”
  1. Wait a sec’….
    Article and Socketsite snippet says, “The jump in inventory was driven by an increase in the supply of condos as projects started one or two years ago came on the market, the Realtors group said.”
    My question: How do condos coming on line from “projects started one or two years ago” (read: “new” condos) count toward _existing_ home sales data and inventory?

  2. it contributes to the 11.2 month supply of properties nationally

    The increase in sales wasn’t enough to keep up with the surge in properties coming into the market as foreclosures mount. There were a record 4.67 million unsold houses and condos on the market in July, representing 11.2 month’s supply at the current sales pace, matching the highest ever. The group has said a five to six months’ supply is consistent with a stable market.
    The jump in inventory was driven by an increase in the supply of condos as projects started one or two years ago came on the market, the Realtors group said.

    I believe, but cannot say for sure, that the ‘sales pace’ referred to in the article includes new and existing.

  3. That is probably because many of the condos got listed for sale after only a short time because of the bubble plus all the usual reasons.

  4. Yeah a bit confusing but I believe that the number of homes sold in this report were all ‘previously owned’ so it excludes new places, but the reference to number of homes for sale (inventory) combines both new and exisiting homes.

  5. Let’s not forget:
    1/3rd of the used homes that were sold were FORECLOSURES.
    Foreclosures are making up a significant amount of home sales across the country (not in SF at this time). although the # of sales of foreclosures is included in the existing home sales numbers, I am not sure if the data set about median/mean sales price includes foreclosures or not.

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