Key Points:
- Existing-home sales fell for the twelfth straight month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.00 million.
- Existing-home sales fell 0.7% in January from December and 36.9% from one year ago.
- Consensus among economists was a 0.1% increase.
- The median existing-home sales price climbed 1.3% from one year ago to $359,000.
- First-time buyers were responsible for 31% of sales in January, identical to December but up from 27% in January 2022.
- “Home sales are bottoming out,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Prices vary depending on a market’s affordability, with lower-priced regions witnessing modest growth and more expensive regions experiencing declines.”
- The Right Facts will continue to monitor home sales.