September 2017 Existing Home Sales Unexpectedly Rebounds

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is reporting that total existing-home sales which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, rose 0.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.39 million in September from 5.35 million in August. The report which you can read here, comes amid three consecutive months of monthly existing home declines which were affected by hurricanes hitting the Southern United States and shortages in housing.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR states “sales activity likely would have been somewhat stronger if not for the fact that parts of Texas and South Florida – hit by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma – saw temporary, but notable declines.”  Texas and Florida make up 18 percent of all existing home sales nationwide.

Housing inventory rose 1.6 percent to 1.90 million existing homes available for sale.  This is 6.4 percent lower than a year ago (2.03 million) and has fallen year-over-year for 28 consecutive months. It should be also be noted that unsold inventory at a meager 4.2-month supply at the current sales pace, which is down from 4.5 months a year ago.  The shortage of existing homes affected the median sales prices of homes.  The median existing-home price in September was $245,100 nationwide which is an increase of 4.2 percent from September 2016 ($235,200).

Existing condominium and co-op sales decreased 1.6 percentage points to an adjusted figure of 600,000 units annually, 1.6 percent below figures of a year ago. The median existing condo price in September was $231,300 — up 4.1 percentage points from 2016.
Here in the Northeast, September existing-sales are at a projected annual rate of 720,000.  This amount is the same as August and is below last year's figures by 1.4 percent.  The median price of an existing home in the Northeast was $274,100.  That amount is 4.8 percent above September 2016. 

New York State Association of Realtors has indicated that there were 98,176 closed sales through the first nine months of 2017, a 1.7-percent increase from 2016 and 38,445 closed sales in the 2017 third quarter which is a decrease of 3.1 percent from the 2016 third quarter total of 39,693.   Statewide median sales price through the first three quarters of the year was $250,000, a 5.5-percent increase from the same period in 2016.

 Blue Harbour Property Management is a full service NYC property management company servicing the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx.  Whether it be a 1 bedroom condo or multi-family building we are able to assist our clients maximize their investments.

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