November data hints at a fragile thaw in a still‑tight housing market
Existing-home sales inched higher in November, offering mortgage professionals a tentative sign that lower borrowing costs have started to pull some buyers back into the market even as supply remain constrained.
The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) reported a 0.5% month-over-month rise in existing-home sales to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.13 million, while volumes were still 1% lower than a year earlier.
Inventory fell 5.9% from October to 1.43 million units, equal to 4.2 months’ supply, but was up from November last year.
The median existing-home price for all housing types stood at $409,200 in November, up 1.2% from $404,400 a year before, extending a 29‑month streak of annual price gains.
“Existing-home sales increased for the third straight month due to lower mortgage rates this autumn,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.
“However, inventory growth is beginning to stall. With distressed property sales at historic lows and housing wealth at an all-time high, homeowners are in no rush to list their properties during the winter months.”
Yun added: “Wage growth is outpacing home price gains, which improves housing affordability. Still, future affordability could be hampered if housing supply fails to keep pace with demand.”
He noted that single-family home sales once again outperformed condominium sales in November, with the typical condo selling for 13.5% less than a single-family home – a gap partly offset by rising association fees.
Regional and product splits kept pressure on buyers
Regionally, November sales rose in the Northeast and South, were flat in the West and slipped in the Midwest, while year-over-year volumes fell in the Midwest and West. Price trends diverged: the Midwest posted a 5.8% annual gain, while the West saw a slight price decline.
Single-family sales increased 0.8% on the month, with a median price of $414,300, but remained below year-ago levels. Condo and co‑op sales fell 2.6%, with a median price of $358,600, both month over month and year over year.
First-time buyers accounted for 30% of November transactions, down from October.
Median prices ranged from $319,400 in the Midwest to $618,900 in the West, with the Northeast at $480,800 and the South at $361,000.
Rate relief remained modest, but demand signals improved
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate in November stood at 6.24%, barely below October’s 6.25% and down from 6.81% a year earlier.
More recent Freddie Mac data shows rates hovering just above 6.2% in December, reinforcing a narrow trading range that had helped stabilize borrowing costs for late‑year shoppers.
On the demand side, Mortgage Bankers Association figures in November showed purchase applications near their strongest pace since early fall, even as rates ticked slightly higher, suggesting that buyers in markets with improving inventory continued to shop aggressively.
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