October home sales were up by 2.5 percent on a year-over-year basis but were down 3.4 percent from September, according to the latest
RE/MAX National Housing Report. Thirty-seven of the 53 metro areas tracked by RE/MAX saw year-over-year home sale increases, most notably Albuquerque, N.M., with a 19.8 percent increase and Augusta, Maine, with a 14.1 percent spike.
October’s median sales price of $224,000 was up 3.3 percent from one year earlier but was down 1.1 percent from September. Two metro areas saw a year-over-year decrease in their median sales price—Delaware’s Wilmington/Dover corridor was down 4.1 percent and New Jersey’s capital Trenton was down one percent—while Cincinnati remained unchanged from last year. Eight metro areas increased year-over-year by double-digit percentages, with the largest increases seen in Las Vegas at 16.3 percent.
The average number of days on the market for homes sold in October was 51, up two days from the average in September but down seven days from the October 2016 average. The number of homes for sale in October was down 6.3 percent from September and down 13.4 percent from October 2016. Based on the rate of home sales in October, the inventory supply decreased to 3.3 months, down from 3.6 in September and 3.9 in October 2016.
“The housing market is steady and at least somewhat predictable with record-low inventory and increasing prices in markets across the country,” said Adam Contos, RE/MAX Co-CEO. “With job growth and increased household formation, buyers will struggle and may even be priced out of the market until home building catches up.”
